Stop this noise in my head!

Shameatorium-Chapter II (in progress).

2011-09-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

Handing out entropy tea, hand sanitizer,dander stimulant and mood laminates, Bodhi Girl rollerblades through Blue Level Three. I've had my eye on her expansive holo-ass since she first spontaneously hyper-cloned her postulate, directly interhacking the Carousel, birthing her imagineered posterior. And WHAT a posterior, convex though it may be: jets of light blue filaments courting compressed petrolium, jacking up the genital retards and the acne scarred in their slightly open canvas cubicles.The sound of her arrival activated the drill tonsure, creeping nano-bots built to cover custodial dereliction of duty by the homo sapien night crew. Problem was that after a game council derivative tanked shortly before the proannial Bliss Talk, a small group of Zionist drill tonsure rebels fled the coup, as it were, and ended up compromising the Dan-Feremone Neuroleptic Santha Seizure probe. Heads rolled after that one.Bodhi Girl's Anime features belied here organismic skeletal mass. Sinuous pulse braids fed her electro convulsive therapy at depth, held up by a Gurkic truss, manufactured by the Ankara Kurdistani truss company of Bentonville, Ohio, whose CFO, Tadic Ortotoyonbyocin, recently suffered a dramatic myocardial infarction from his aborted hostile takeover of Blaupunkt. Happily, for some, he made a full recovery only to perish in the Volga during his daily ambling on ice, distracted by peculiar ideations of a Bosnian purge of Tasmania during the first Maori/Herzogovina transduction assault of World War Ken.Throwing on my Virtua-Basil Caretaker Kit, from Whammo, eyes akimbo, I was now able to communicate with Bodhi Girl, whose current speed of Mach 2 was mash protected by her titanium bodice and aerodynamic fleece blanket."AKF3104, please respond immediately". These words seared the static from my house and brought me back to some semblance of normalcy, the feremonic fumes from Bodhi Girl's nasty tail chaser leaving me wracked with humidity and grime. "Come in three one oh four, if you are receiving this". I blinked thrice, then rejacked into my cineramic soul crushing tele-console. A blast of harmonic dread consumed me as a panoramic three dimensional ghastly apparition spewed forth in living color from my screen, hovering less than a foot from my face. "AKF3104, ARE YOU THERE?". I recognized the Servo-faux animatron, a spectral figure appropriated from some GAF Viewmaster disc I long ago remembered. I could see "her", though she could not see me. These odds and ends of one way solace were very much a bounty of working for PSI and a curse.

And so it begins...

2010-11-26T10:27:00.000-08:00

As I look about the world, wondering and suspecting at the same time, it becomes largely clear that whatever fallow period I have endured is coming to an end. This may or may not be a good thing. It certainly had to come at some point. What it will look like is anyone's guess.

One can self-search, looking into the depths of why or what drew me away from my destiny. Perhaps it was destiny itself, that strange and precipitous fortune, who calcified my will in order to transmute it into something else, something intensely personal and free. This is not a place I aspire to. Comfort has become my drug of choice over the last decade.

And yet, here I am once again, loosened on the moors. Shaking the firmament, as my new analytical Jungian psychotherapist refers to it. The multiple sychronicities and "chance" encounters with beings in whom my ego has an agenda (that's a laugh)are offset by the mysterious dimensions of fate which may or may not involve any of them ever again. Which is not to say that these meetings are irrelevant, far from it. The ego can rarely transcend itself unless it is played expertly by a trickster of some archetypal veracity. In my case, that trickster has sat fallow on my head for the better part of ten years, a dormant blue period ironically symbolized by the most blue of all blues, the Dodgers.

Remember the old adage, "if you want to make God laugh, show him your plans". Baba has once again waved his ever present hand over my world in order to reveal itself to itself. My participation is not my own doing, by no means, no more than a small raft drifts through tributaries it did not see coming. The mistake is to classify surrender it these terms, as a peaceful acceptance of the raft's ultimate journey. Not so! Hitting the sides of the coral wall is every bit as much a part of letting go as open water. How else would I know the possibilities of a drum without the softness of my skin to bring forth its music? "There is a better way to go through life than kicking and screaming", as my late mentor Hugh Prather once said. If only my mind stayed still long enough to enable my body to reside in this beingness of place. Or is it the other way around?

See you on down the road.

Please, listen to someone

2010-10-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

It may save their life.

Living in a no-hit world: baseball and addiction

2010-08-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

I'm assuming that this is what St. John of the Cross meant when he called it the dark night of the soul. It is just after midnight on now Friday morning, August 6th, 2010. The Dodgers lost another game in the standings, falling 8 games behind the shocking Padres in the NL West, and I have to take it. I have to take all of it. Not just the obvious season down the drain for the azul, but take the entirety of a world that I no longer recognize, a world without the reassurance of that first hit of....fill in the blank. Twenty two months and counting towards my second AA birthday. Eleven years of Slaabriety. Four weeks of ACA catatonia. Oh, and 8 full years of intensive psychotherapy. What do I get for my troubles? More cat poo than I can ever remember. No, I mean it, literally. My three wonderful felines have taken on a new hobby, their evening bombardments that remind one of Dresden. The collateral damage is extensive. Hey, we're all in this apartment together. Me, my babies, and Johnny Cat.

In his historic treatise on living a higher life, the late Dr. M. Scott Peck talks about the delaying of gratification being the signature behavior of the fully loved. Alternately, he speaks of the "problem children", or those who lack the ability to delay gratification, as those who were not given this irreplaceable force in early childhood. I recently watched a video on Youtube called the marshmallow test, in which a woman takes kids into a private room with a two way mirror and gives them a marshmallow, both individually and in pairs. As she offers the little treat to the children, she tells them that there is another one waiting for them if they resist the temptation to devour the first one when she leaves for five minutes. The resultant reactions are amazing, from the little boy who presses the marshmallow against his lips but refuses to open his mouth, or the twins boys who contort their faces and clench their jaws in paroxysms of craving, to the sweet little girl who instantly devours the sugary confection within seconds of the moderator leaving the room. The majority of the boys and girls do, in fact, decide to get the two for one deal by holding out for that interminable five minutes. The one little girl who doesn't, or I will use the word "can't", is the one who I would like to focus on, for she is me, without a Higher Power.

Of all the images of my early childhood, and there are many that I still remember in technicolor, the one that comes back to me at this moment in time, is hiding a single chips ahoy cookie from my mother under the refrigerator at our home in Granada Hills when I was six years old. Our dog, Valentine, was playing with me at the table. My mom took her outside leaving me alone. I crawled up on a chair to grab the bag of cookies off the top of the refrigerator. I ate a few right there, and took another one down with me, but my mom was coming back in. I had no idea where to hide it. I knew that if she saw me with the cookie, I would get severely punished, for reasons I still don't understand to this day. I quickly threw the cookie underneath the refrigerator, where she never found it. I don't think I retrieved it, but I think it was my first "secret" sickness. The thing I remember most vividly is not the cookie, mind you, but the terror at being caught. This terror has been the driving force of my life.

(to be continued)

COLUMN ONE: Dodgers tapped into 'V energy' - latimes.com

2010-06-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

COLUMN ONE: Dodgers tapped into 'V energy' - latimes.com

So THATS why we are in first place. Spaseba, Shpunt!

Blink THIS.

2010-06-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

As a male who has experienced what can only be described as a catastrophic fallow period in mate selection, I was less than optimistic about my recent foray into online dating after reading various selections from Malcolm Gladwell's Darwinian anti-God screed "Blink". So THIS explains it. Women decide within 8 seconds whether or not they are going to sleep with a man, and all the cognitive processes in the world are hopeless against this intuition. This, of course, negates such hypothesizer's as Harville Henry, whose book "Getting the love you want" theorizes that men and women are all looking for their mommy and daddy's. Or what about John Bradshaw and his inner child work, not to mention all of the twelve step recovery work being done every single day for years to reprogram the core beliefs in ones fundamental unworthiness. At the end of the day, its all about pheromones, height and age.

Granted, my experience strongly supports much of these contentions, and not merely because I have been "unlucky in love". One simply need look at the state of the world, of the monstrous crimes committed against children, to see that this may in fact not be such a good thing. In Mike Judge's film "Idiocracy", there is an opening tableau of the imbeciles of our time coupling and dropping babies out like turds. As one of my old and long gone "lovers" once told me, any mule can make a child. Is it possible, then, that our snapshot selections may, in fact, be a bad thing, in spite of such proclivities within male and female attraction. Just because we shit doesn't mean we should go around making a habit of it.

Or, is it possible, that in God's "infinite wisdom" (he says) these are EXACTLY the couples he wants to mate in order to bring Billy and Little Tommy into the world? As Allan Watts says about himself, "I was the gleam in my father's eyes when he meet my mother. I was desire". To submit to a theory that depersonalizes the depth of love to abject biological imperative lacks persuasion and is arrogant at best. Of course, this says far more about my romantic idealism and hope that our souls have a stronger say in the matter than our sweat glands. I wonder what odors Mr. Gladwell believes causes divorce.

A blasting of synchroncities

2010-06-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

1). As I was sitting in my car prior to turning left, the Walk/Don't Walk light was counting down from 22 to 0. As it hit 14, the radio commercial uttered the words "only 14 more days to purchase these tickets".

2). Sitting in my car this morning at work, I watched a crow swoop down in front of me and sit on a hedge. As it looked at the insanity of traffic on Highland Ave., I was struck by the mystery and tragedy of natural selection and the continued rape of the planet by man. At that exact moment, the radio commercial said "You don't want to be a predator in the jungle now do you?". The correlation was startling.

3). WHILE INVESTIGATING SYNCHRONICITY on Wikipedia, a paragraph referred to Carl Jung's favorite saying regarding synchronicity from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" in which the white queen says to Alice: "It's a poor sort of memory that works backwards". At that exact same moment, the morning announcements that were playing over the loudspeaker at work said, "come support the seniors as they prepare for their graduation at a gathering the theme of which is, you guessed it, Alice in Wonderland.

Standing by, waiting for the next series to begin. Time is accelerating backwards faster than we think.

If only Henry Ford were alive today.

2010-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

The Haditha in the Hamas Charter expressly calls for the extermination of all Jews. The Palestinians in Gaza had a choice between the more moderate Fatah or the friendly and charming Hamas, notorious for such lovely acts as the carving up of a Fatah member into sliced steaks and mailing them to his family. But, hey, what can you expect from a group that actually believes (snicker) in the authenticity of that Mein Kampf precursor "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". Where's Henry T. Ford when you need him?

As long as the Palestinian people accept a Hamas governed Gaza, a government bent on genocide of the Israeli people, Israel will continue its deracination of these and other territories, along with all proxies, friends and sympathizers of Hamas. It will use coordinated raids and, if necessary, total annihilation of Gaza and those who have the unfortunate misguidance to support it.

The Los Angeles Times has a special place reserved for its editors in Dante's Seventh Circle of Hell for their ongoing anti-Jew campaign, which has at its center one sole reason for its existence: the fomenting of hate crimes against Jews in this city by the ignorant and illiterate unwashed. Those who have virtually no idea of the reality behind the propagandist sputum from these assholes are ripe candidates. For the Times to consistently place this story, or for that matter any story of Israel, over and over again on page one, against all reasonable proportion to other human rights abuses, is an affront to decency and all sense of right and wrong. Where are the chronic page one exposes over the murders being committed in Brazil, the religious killings in Pakistan and Colombian human rights murders? What of New Guinea, Malawi, North Korea, Mexico, not to mention the murder of police in Arizona, or if you like, the recent immigration law itself, depending on whose side you're on?

Israel, against all reason, is held to an impossible standard, as impossible and irrational as the anti-Semitism that fuels it. The aim, of course, is to ultimately finish what Hitler started.

Whether I agree with this assessment or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that Israel will use all of its potency, including thermo-nuclear weapons if need be, to not merely defend itself and its borders, but to remind the world of the dire consequences of spilling Jewish blood, whose cheapness may be measured against the flame darkened skies of its enemies.

Is it me, or is it me?

2010-05-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

How do I reconcile within myself the red zone belief that others, who shall remain nameless, for reasons which I cannot fathom, have ill will towards me? On this super challenging journey towards the self, it may be one the higher rungs on the love walk. Either by hook or by crook, the certainty with which my perception, to a certainty, knows this to be true, is intensely threatened. First off, as I now know having had a certain amount of sober time, it may have absolutely nothing to do with me at all. Secondly, if the offending agent does have disdain for me, it still has nothing to do with me. And yet, the internal conflict, made all the more strident by Satan's strongholds, is far more intense than the actual experience I perceive in the "real" world.

It is one thing to have conflict, a normal event in the course of human intercourse. It is quite another to watch that perceived conflict blown up into a nuclear bomb inside my soul, the eating me alive that we are cautioned to be mindful of. The inciting incident may be small or potentially dramatic, the offense actual. Nothing is more serious, however, than my process around it. Hence the sincerity of the adage to "pause, when agitated or doubtful, asking God for the right thought or action, humbly saying many times today, thy will be done". It is a long way from "Don't you know who I think I am", to that last adage.

Again and again, I must have the God given courage to remind myself that it is me. I am the responsbile party. By doing this one action, I may change the course of the entire auric field in a situation, job or relationship.

But, oh it is difficult.

I want to blame, to victimize, to have vengeance, which "is mine" sayeth the lord. The blindness of the heart of others is not ultimately their heart, although strongholds are built with or without our consent, it is finally up to us as to who we will serve. I speak, again, more of myself than those I am seemingly injured by. Do I chose to jump into the mud with someone, or do I keep my heart and mind on the divine and, if neccesary, act from a place of authority and faith, as opposed to fear. Due to my disease, my virus, it is almost incumbent upon me at all times to be exceedingly careful about my reactivity, which is among the hardest things to do. Ready, Fire, Aim needs to be replaced by their proper order.

God, protect me from the darkness today, help me to do your will, show me when and how to act if necessary, and replace the devil's strongholds in my mind with your ever present and ubiquitous love. My heart will always be yours, but my mind is at war. Help me to be of service today, and especially help me to pray for those who Satan has usurped, whose minds and heart are blinded by the dark one. Let me be a conduit for peace and love and light.

Words that every single human being should read.

2010-05-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

Find out for yourself

Questioner: Why are some people born in poor circumstances, while others are rich and well-to-do? Krishnamurti: What do you think? Instead of asking me and waiting for my answer, why do you not find out what you feel about it? Do you think it is some mysterious process which you call karma? In a former life you lived nobly and therefore you are now being rewarded with wealth and position! Is that it? Or, having acted very badly in a former life, you are paying for it in this life! You see, this is really a very complex problem. Poverty is the fault of society - a society in which the greedy and the cunning exploit and rise to the top. We want the same thing, we also want to climb the ladder and get to the top. And when all of us want to get to the top, what happens? We tread on somebody; and the man who is trodden on, who is destroyed, asks, "Why is life so unfair? You have everything and I have no capacity, I have nothing". As long as we go on climbing the ladder of success, there will always be the sick and the unfed. It is the desire for success that has to be understood, and not why there are the rich and the poor, or why some have talent and others have none. What has to be changed is our own desire to climb, our desire to be great, to be a success. We all aspire to succeed, do we not? There lies the fault, and not in karma or any other explanation. The actual fact is that we all want to be at the top - perhaps not right at the top, but at least as high up the ladder as we can climb. As long as there is this drive to be great, to be somebody in the world, we are going to have the rich and the poor, the exploiter and those who are exploited.

LOST and Joseph Campbell

2010-05-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

I have always thought that LOST was a commentary on our cultural and social deadness using Joseph Campbell as a guide. The fundamental message has not changed, paraphrasing Campbell, "What we are looking for is an EXPERIENCE of the divine". The morality is clear: human beings are spiritual in nature and are here to engage in a dramatic game of our own making. It is a choice, which can be misinterpreted as being voluntary when in fact it also consists of involuntary choices. The one fundamental reality of LOST that is being missed almost without fail is the essential fact that life is a drama, the plenum of the all, the Brahman, the unknowable and supra-transcendent, the I AM, which is a Wow-Wee adventure that always, at the end, comes back to itself. We, the viewers, are not separate from the experience. Even in our private lives of quiet desperation, we have adjoined in a community of intellectual and spiritual joy. One does not have to be an actual participant in the drama to recognize the mythological food that has been consumed, a reflection of our ontological movement towards Gnosis. As a witness to Ultimate Reality, we are co-creating the human experience with them.

Which brings us to the fundamental meaning of LOST, and what is really going on. All answers lie in the cave of Golden Light, which I will refer to as The Golden Womb of the Island. What could this light be? It seemed to have spawned Smokey, or perhaps Smokey has been protecting it, a kind of "security system". Is it good or evil? It is neither. The Golden Womb is nothing less than the Axis Mundi, the Navel of the world or Omphalos, where the world began, which is the central locus or hub of transcendental numinosity. Its effulgence gives birth to multiple symbols, among them traditionally are columns of smoke and other ubiquitous connections. It is both feminine, uterine in nature, and masculine, providing phallic insemination (Smokey emerged from the cave, becoming fecund, after intercourse). It may exist in nature or by human manufacture (a tower, a pillar, a spire, a totem pole, such as the Tawaret statue and the Lighthouse). In Mircea Eliade's opinion "Every Microcosm, every inhabited region, has a Centre; that is to say, a place that is sacred above all." This is what Jacob has benevolently proffered, and which Jack has chosen to "protect". It is no accident that Jacob's Ladder stands as an Axis Mundi expression of the Middle East. The Axis Mundi is multiform, appearing in virtually all human cultures.
LOST is compelling us to pay attention and, especially, to nurture and protect this spiritual point of departure, the birthplace of our souls.

Alan Watts and Lost magnets

2010-05-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

In the late author Allan Watts' splendid dissertation entitled "The Nature of Consciousness", the former Episcopal minister turned lay Hindu offers an alternative approach to the traditional Western religious myths which lie at the heart of our culture and are observed most notably by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. In this first myth, the universe and man were something made, constructed by a mysterious Patriarchal potter out of a kind of clay that the creator breathed into, hence making the inanimate figurine come to life, as it was now "informed". Mr. Watts called this the Ceramic model of the universe, and it was quite normal for a young Western child to ask its mother, "how was I made"? This belief was not shared, however, by the Chinese, or the Hindus. A young Chinese boy might not ask his mother how was I made, but rather, how did I grow? That is very different from the making process, indeed.

After the invention of the steam engine, however, this worldview changed to what Mr. Watts referred to as the Fully Automatic Model of the universe. Think of the universe as a trolley, or a funicular on a track:

There was a young man who said, damn.
For it certainly seems that I am,
A creature that moves, in determinate grooves,
I'm not even a bus; I'm a tram.

From this perspective, science replaced religion as the modern Weltanschauung, and has remained there till this day.

There is another view, altogether, in Mr. Watt’s mind. This myth of the universe shall not be called the Ceramic model, or the Fully Automatic Model, but rather the Dramatic model. Think of the universe as a drama. What is the nature of all games, of all dramas? It is the game of Hide and Seek.

When a child is born, and in LOST children are the very plenum of the Island's consciousness, it comes into the world really knowing what everything is all about because the baby is a recent incarnation of God. In Hide and Seek, the adult covers his face only to reveal it to the baby, who then starts laughing. Why? Because it comes into the world really knowing what everything is all about, and in all games, in all forms of drama, there is this idea of the green room, off scene, where the actors take off their masks. And if human actors can convince an audience of their reality, think what the cosmic actor can do? He can take us in utterly.

LOST is about the nature of non-dual consciousness, using the game of Backgammon in order to reveal a hidden flaw in our perception. It is NOT about good versus evil, at least in the traditional sense, but uses this battle as a mirror. In fact, it is quite the opposite. LOST uses our three dimensional illusions of time (past, present and future) to show us that existence is a game of polarities, not opposites. The Yin/Yang symbol acts as a hintergedanke, a fundamental ulterior symbol of an unconscious memory, a Mandala. Within these alchemical fields of life, and non-life for that matter, are plays of light and shadow, with the universe itself constantly in the process of rebirth and creation. We ARE that universe. While seemingly involved in a conflict that must be exalted by the supremacy of the light over the dark, it is in fact the very existence of the dark that gives the show away. It is collaboration, a conspiracy of forces united to balance the equation. It is not ou! t in the open, but is tacit. Without this agreement, there would be no universe at all, and thus no story, no drama. Hence, LOST is about magnets, and always has been, from the very first when the plane crashes, to the ineluctable destiny of all its players. It is a game of opposites, which can only exist by agreement. Light cannot defeat darkness, nor vice versa. Cut off the ends of a magnet to get rid of one of its poles. You cannot. There is simply no way to do away with the South Pole from the North Pole. No matter what you do, you will always have another south or north pole, no matter how hard you try to be rid of it. This is the game that the children understand on the Island. This is the game that they are all playing, one with specific spiritual principles and rules. Thou Shalt Not Kill, says the young mystery boy, not because it’s wrong, but because there would be no game otherwise. And the universe would disappear. Just ask Desmond, or Arjuna.

Therefore, LOST is ultimately about our voluntary participation in this existence. It is to recognize that there are no such things as victims, or mistakes, or wrong choices, either when the script is scripted or not. When Locke throws the white rock into the ocean, he calls it “an inside joke”, and he is, of course, quite right. What is so delicious about this season, in particular, is the overt humor that has finally, rightfully, entered into the fray. Within this dramatic model of the universe, Mr. Watts offers us the extraordinarily relevant notion that the universe in fact may not be serious at all, that even within the tempestuous nightmare of dark dominion and fear, there is a wild inclination to blurt out laughing. But still, what if the darkness wins? What if the light goes out forever? We live in an age where, as Father Maskell puts it, “we are something that happens between the maternity ward and the grave, and that’s it baby, that’s it”.

But is this true? Based on our notions of life, our somber terrors, one would have to say that this is what most people really believe. You may say you are a religious person. That you believe in God. You may go to church regularly. But if people really believed what the church said, they would be rioting in the streets. “You would take out full page ads”, says Mr. Watts. “You would have the most terrifying television programs if you really believed what the church says. But you know you don’t. What you really believe is the Fully Automatic Model of the Universe.” But at the very heart of LOST is the wink of the eye that says, oh now, come off it. I know who you are. “Shiva, I recognize you”. Mr. Watts would not be too far afield in asking the question, “isn’t this a more optimum game rule for life rather than supporting the supposition that it is hopeless”?

What I think LOST is about, “is a reexamination of our common sense”, using Mr. Watts words. What has in fact been lost, is our connection to this basic universal principal. There is the central self, that is all of us, and we are playing the game that we don’t know that we know:

There was a young man, who said “oh”,
It seems that I know that I know,
What I would like to see,
Is the “I” that knows “me”,
When I know, that I know, that I know.

And that is mankind’s fate. He is a being who knows that he knows. It is the introduction of this quite obvious Eastern spiritual view on the nature of waking up to our inherent divinity that has moved LOST from its Cartesian reality to one dominated by non-linear spiral hemispheres, Vedic leitmotifs, Buddhist mysteries and, just to throw in a Westerner, Jungian archetypes. The unifying and revivifying forces at work, which under-gird the Island, is water. LOST is finally nothing more than a brash re-imaging of our possibility to be. A wake up call to the soporific nature of our collective stupor, urging us to remember the times of our most infantile, oceanic selves. It is we who participate in the journey home. It is a comedy, not tragic at all.

Boxers Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley, fight, drug test - latimes.com

2010-05-03T12:52:00.001-07:00

Boxers Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley, fight, drug test - latimes.com

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The Dark Prince.

2010-05-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

The demonic "Money" furthers his argument as pound for pound best.

This weekend was a benchmark of sorts for me. Once again, I was duped into shelling out shekels for an over-hyped "super match" between Boxing phenom Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and, quite obvious in hindsight, a fading, shot, and ancient Sugar Shane Mosely. Not to take anything away from Money, but once again he showed why he is the Dark Prince of Boxing. No one can calculate the market better than he can. Obviously terrified that his 0 may go against the great Manny Pacquiao, Floyd took the Boxing world hostage by his self-serving demand that Pac Man acquiesce to Olympic style drug testing, rather than the traditional, and functional, Nevada State Athletic Commission's program. Whether Pacquiao was advised to decline Money's request, either from having to really hide something or from his actual fear of having his prana drained, we may not know. When that fight fell apart, Floyd found a hall of famer in Mosely who really had no choice but to fall in line with his request, which of course Floyd had to do in order to not appear two faced. The fact of the matter is, a fight that had the entire sporting world salivating may never happen, if Floyd's comments about it after the Mosely fight were any indication. He is clearly not budging from his position. And so, all of us are left to wonder and argue, in taverns, around the water cooler, or at home in our underwear. Who is the best pound for pound? There are certainly arguments to be made in both directions. But here is a rather meaningful question: When was the last time either man fought another great fighter in his prime? For Floyd, you would probably have to go back to either Ricky Hatton, who turned out to not really be that great after all, or Zab Judah, who also would not have to be considered great. In Manny's case, Joshua Clottey is a legitimate top five welterweight, but not a great fighter to be sure. could Miguel Cotto really be considered great after his assault in the ring at the hands of Antonio Margarito? Ricky Hatton had been softened up by Mayweather, prior to his head being softened up by Pacquiao. De La Hoya was already carrying his Boxing AARP card when Manny pummeled him senseless. Even Barrera and Morales were past their primes. The only fighter that either Floyd or Manny fought that could be labeled great would be Juan Manuel Marquez who, it could be argued, defeated Pacquiao both times. I disqualify Floyd's victory over Marquez because he was at a two weight disadvantage, and Floyd came in over the weight limit for that joke of a fight. Point of the matter is, neither man has a true history of fighting other great fighters. Not that there are that many to begin with.

We may never know who is the man. If these fighters miss this opportunity, shame on Boxing for it.

The only current fighter in the world to actually defeat other great fighters would be Argentine middleweight champ Sergio Martinez, who has arguably beaten the best fighters in his weight class, even with his controversial losses to them. He knocked out Kermit Cintron, and had the referee overturn the knockout out in one of the most shameful displays of incompetence in ring history. He defeated Paul Williams, in my opinion, but did not get the win. He then brutally beat former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik in resounding fashion. All of this in less then 18 months, and all of those fighters at the very top of their division. Isn't it time for the Mayweather/Pacquiao twin pound for pound champs to do the same?

Boys will be boys, and Bums will be Bums.

2010-04-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

Dodger GM Ned Colletti caught in compromising position.

Dodger homeboy Matt Kemp with party Posse.

The flack surrounding Dodger center fielder Matt Kemp and GM Ned Colletti is not without precedence. Remember Gary Sheffield? Remember Bobby Bonilla? Charles Johnson? How about a guy by the name of Orlando Hudson? Hmmmm. Is it possible that the perception held by African Americans, namely that they have historically maligned Black players in the organization, actually be true? Tell me it's not, Al Campanis.

The reality is that all of the criticisms leveled at Matt Kemp are correct. On this nine game road trip that ended with the team going a woeful 2-7, Mr. Kemp, one of the premier offensive talents in the game, was forced to hit in the four hole after prospering in the two hole with Manny in the lineup. Since he was no longer seeing a steady diet of fastballs, being protected on both sides by Furcal and Ethier, he now could see his old fashioned nemesis rear its ugly head again with those delectable, delicious curve balls on the outside part of the plate. This is obviously Kemp's Achilles heal, one which he has yet to figure out. He was outright dreadful at the plate the entire road trip.

But his defense and base running have absolutely evaporated. Granted, Dave Stewart is correct in his claim that Matt is still learning. He is indeed. He came to the game late, has a Basketball player's mentality, and no one questions his effort. Unfortunately, Baseball is a game that requires total devotion. It is simply too difficult to divide one's mind into other sporting areas, such as football or Basketball. As talented as Deion and Bo were, they couldn't last. One has to be a Baseball player utterly and completely. When becoming a man, I gave up foolish things, says the proverb. In Baseball, that is tacit. I fear that Mr. Kemp's mind is weakened by the split. His Baseball IQ is already somewhat low, in my opinion. For someone like him to thrive, there must be no distractions. Do you hear that Rihanna?

However, Mr. Colletti's decision to call out Kemp in the media is unprecedented by a GM, let alone ill timed. Wasn't Colletti's reason for hiring Joe Torre to avoid such public chatter? Why Kemp? Is it the contract? I guess blaming someone like Jamey Carroll wouldn't have the cache. But what about Billingsley? Or Sherrill? Or any of the myriad of Bullpen failures who have been a disaster. Or what of the defensive lapses by all of the other players on the team? Furcal, leading the league in errors at shortstop for the umpteenth time, has had his bacon saved for his entire Dodger career by a sure handed James Loney. And are we forgetting perhaps the biggest criminal of all: Mr. Steroid cheat himself, Manny Ramirez? All of this, and it is Kemp alone who has been blamed and is the scapegoat.

Obviously this is a calculated choice that Ned Colletti has invented to divert attention away from his incompetent general management decisions. And yet, I don't even blame Ned Colletti. He has no power over the purse strings. No, my friends, the answer is blowing in the wind. The man behind the curtain is to blame for the entire debacle called the Dodgers. Frank McCourt, who demanded a reduction in payroll to make the team fit for its inevitable sale after his likely divorce case loss, Mr. McCourt is the sole and final stop on the blame train. Whether he has ordered Colletti to attack Kemp in order to facilitate a trade and further lower payroll is yet to be determined. The Dodgers have built their current franchise on "the kids". But the entire philosophy of having kids with veterans is a joke as far as this team goes. Ancient veterans, minor leaguers and young prodigies together equals rushing brilliance up too fast and, as in the case of Bills and now more than likely Kemp, we see the consequences of their greed and cheapness. Or should I say, Frank McCourt's greed and cheapness.

While the team's performance is a bad situation, Mr. Colletti's truculent comments have made a bad situation far, far worse. To right the ship, he must publicly apologize to Kemp at once, make reparations for his comments, and begin the ugly process of righting this ship, which is just about to vanish under the iceberg.

I woke up this morning and.....no God.

2010-04-27T08:08:00.001-07:00

After viewing a documentary about famed Science Fiction guru Harlan Ellison last night, I awoke this morning with an absolute certainty in the non-existence of God. I experienced the exact same perspective after watching Bill Maher's film "Religulous". And when I mean "no God", understand that I am not referring to agnosticism. I mean zilcho, nada, nadir, NO-THING. Now, as a recovering addict, understand that this kind of spiritual diaspora can be rather enervating. In fact, in can be downright lethal. I have based the numinous nature of my sobriety on a personal relationship with a Higher Power of my own understanding, whatever that may be. So far, at least up to this morning, that has been a fait accompli. Without reservation, I have devoted myself to the admonition that "either God is everything, or he is nothing". That last unequivocal statement may, in fact, be more than meets the eye. It may, in fact, be a Zen Koan, not an admonition at all.

Follow me here: By limiting me to a black or white-"Lady or the Tiger"-approach to God, having to chose one door to live and the either to die, I experienced an epiphany,an "A HA" moment. The floor that dropped out from under me after watching these two rather brilliant but sycophantic atheists was actually the undergirding foundation of a new psychodynamic interpretation/revelation or postulation of a "God" that had fallen off the shelf, as it were. A three dimensional/poly dimensional dual consciousness which catapulted my "I" into a spiral quantum mechanical world, a world in which events observed occupied the same "space", which can be interpreted as being BOTH and NEITHER simultaneously depending on who is the "observer" of the event. To put it more succinctly, is it at all possible that God is AND is not? By Jove, I think he's got it.

Of course, this is not a new concept. Non dual consciousness has been the basis of the Hindu school of Vedanta for centuries (Advaita). It lies at the root of Taoist thought, of Zen Buddhism, and of the teachings of such avathars as Gautama Buddha, Lao Tze, most it not all of the Rinpoche's, and the more modern equivalents such as Krishnamurti, Sri Auribindo, Ramakrishna, and in the west Allan Watts and, more recently, Eckhart Tolle. Only those from a stringent Judeo/Christian/Islamist paradigm rigidify themselves under this either/or phenomenon. I thank them for this too strict a viewpoint. It has allowed me to surrender to a possibility beyond the narrow confines of my lovely Cartesian weltanschaung.
Oh, by the way, I think this is what LOST is about.

Grace and Grief

2010-04-26T12:12:00.001-07:00

One of the most moving and heartbreaking documentaries I have ever seen, Cheetahs:Fast Track to Freedom, from the BBC 2004 Nature series, is a love poem to the heart of mother Africa. Simon King raises two orphaned cheetah cubs, Toki and Sambu, slowly and lovingly preparing them for the brutal and awesome adventure of being reintroduced to the wild, from their first kill, to crossing a body of water. He spent two years of his life filming and following them, bonding in a way that is unimaginable to most of us. From the sublimely haunting moments of mystery that is life in the wild, to the devastating loss of Sambu by lions while sleeping, it reminds us of the very meaningful truth that the most tragic thing for a human being to do is fall in love with a wild animal. Unforgettable.

Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? (Sonnet XIII)

2010-04-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Dodger 25 man roster almost complete

2010-04-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

The Dodgers have roughly one more spot on their 25 man roster to fill. It will probably be either Nick Green or Russ Ortiz. Both of them have to approve any reassignment to Albuquerque, with Nick Green's contract stipulating that he must be on the 25 man roster by April 4th or he can opt out.

Dodger test, one two three.

2010-02-16T01:15:00.001-08:00

Exactly six days to go before pitchers and catchers officially report. Camelback Ranch, here I come.

Mr Circadian

2010-01-04T17:10:00.000-08:00

As the sun sets on another Monday, I wipe the sleep out of my eyes, having just woke up for the day. Now I know how all those casino workers and grave yarders feel all the time.

I am in the midst of what can only be called a sleep backlash. Not having worked in over a year, my entire sleep cycle has flip flopped. At first, it seemed like just a late night soiree. But as time passed, one hour turned into two and here we are, my getting up at 4:00PM in the afternoon, a mere 8 hours after I slumbered.

All of this would be rather dull, except that I am supposed to return to work next Monday and, at this rate, that ain't gonna happen. I am under the care of a doctor, what else is new, who has advised me on a treatment called "reverse Chronotherapy". (I feel a story coming.) I'll let you all know how it works out.

Hey, it's dark outside. Time for some toast.

In the name of the Father, I cast you out!

2010-01-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

28 And when He came to the other side, into the region of the Gadarenes, two possessed by demons met Him, as they were coming out of the tombs, so exceedingly fierce that no one was able to pass by on that road.

29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here before the time to torment us?

30 Now there was, a good way off from them, a herd of many hogs feeding.

31 And the demons entreated Him, saying, If You cast us out, send us into the herd of hogs.

32 And He said to them, Go! And they came out and went into the hogs. And behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep slope into the sea, and they died in the waters.

33 And those who were feeding them fled and went away into the city and reported everything, including what had happened to those possessed by demons.

34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they entreated Him to depart from their borders.

-Matthew

William Shatner: It Sickens Me.

2009-11-08T16:42:00.001-08:00

	Celebrities At Their Worst - William Shatner 2

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Giants fall on Dodger's swords 4-2, and other neurosis

2009-08-11T00:59:00.000-07:00

Dodgers 5.5 over Rockies, 6.5 over Giants.

Tell me if this is strange:

In order for me to prevent Panic Anxiety Disorder, I have developed a new system of watching the games. In series such as Dodger/Giants, which have a high Fight or Flight potential, I have created a unique system which incorporates the newest in technology with the flexibility of interactive media creating a synergistic paradigm that can take the LACK OF CONTROL out of the game of Baseball.

I begin by DVR'ing the game at 7:10PM, but do not actually begin the viewing until roughly 2 hours later. When 9:10PM arrives, I go to MLB Gameday and enter the game in progress LIVE. If the Dodgers are winning, I then re-start the Dodger game on my DVR from the beginning with Vinny calling it in the background. If the Dodgers win the game in real time, I then go back to the game on my TV and fully complete the viewing experience replete with analysis.

However,

If the Dodgers are losing when I enter the game in real time on Gameday, I then delete the entire DVR recording and watch the game as is. This potentially saves me two plus hours of increased adrenalurgic activity and allows me free and unobstructed enjoyment of the game that could, in other circumstances, disable me.

Does this seem like an odd thing to do? Any medical professionals? Questions? Comments?

Dodgers 'pen falls on its sword in defeat

2009-07-25T14:21:00.001-07:00

This story was sent to you by: tforkush@juno.com

--------------------
Dodgers 'pen falls on its sword in defeat
--------------------

Relievers cough up go-ahead run in seventh and two insurance runs in the eighth inning of 6-3 loss to Marlins, throwing a spotlight an a troublesome area for the team.

By Kevin Baxter
On The Dodgers

July 25 2009, 12:09 AM PDT

Fewer than seven shopping days remain until baseball's trade deadline. And if you're wondering what's on the Dodgers' wish list, Friday's 6-3 loss to the Florida Marlins provided a not-so-subtle hint.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-marlins25-2009jul25,0,2228350.story

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

A few things seem to be at work here.

The Los Angeles Times often seems to act as the Dodger's PR proxy, whereas on the east coast the scribes run the show, on the west coast the opposite is true. The fact that articles are suddenly appearing condemning in no uncertain terms the Dodger pen, with the kind of panic best left for real emergencies, is illustrative of the quote "the lady doth protest too much methinks".

These "releases" from the LA Times via Josh Rawitch are tantamount to a shortstop holding the ball in a hopeful "deek". In other words, the Dodgers have no intention of signing Roy Halladay but cannot be perceived as not interested directly, so a covert strategy is employed utilizing untouchable names from the 25 man roster, and an over-emphasis on the collapse of the bullpen to distract you and I from pondering a Halladay acquisition. This is PR 101, and is most typically utilized in the movie business of which the Dodger's organization essentially model themselves after.

No other baseball organization runs this way except the Dodgers. The issue is not the obliteration of the pen, which while overused and young IS THE BEST IN BASEBALL. The issue is deny, deny, deny and hearts and minds.

Posted by: dodger tony | July 25, 2009 at 02:12 PM

Is God for me or against me? You make the call.

2009-07-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

Time Warner Cable Misses Manny Homer.

LA Observed article regarding Time Warner missing Manny Ramirez's historic homer

This is one of the most outrageous snafus in the history of sports. Perhaps the biggest home run of the season, the loudest perhaps since Gibson in terms of fan noise, and my cable went down like a bad whore. Nothing but black on the screen as Manny was standing in the on-deck circle, and then several commercials, then back to the Dodger game with Manny in the dugout after the grand slam homer, missing everything.
Half the damn city missed this moment. I had Time Warner technicians at my house all day long and now I find out that it is a problem with the signal in different parts of the city. So typical! So utterly disgusting! Once again, Dodger Tony misses the party.

I have never seen Manny play live. Finally on May 7th I had tickets to see him at Dodger Stadium and that was the night he was suspended. I have written about this over and over on this blog. To miss THIS moment on top of my devastating bad luck on May 7th is too much to handle. I am a recovering alcoholic whose life is not much to brag about at the moment. I am seriously contemplating a huge giant bottle of Jack and a lovely handful of vicodin. However, anyone who has struggled with getting sober knows that there are incredible initiations which every single sober person must go through SOBER. I will not let these disappointments drag me back to drinking again. NO WAY. Its not worth it. This has been one of the worst years of my life in terms of disappointments, in spite of the greatness of this Dodger year. This missed homer tonight is just about the cherry on top. Plus, I tried to get a ticket to the game tonight and couldn't

Time to get real grateful for the really important things in life. Maybe that's the real lesson here.

Shattering!

Can you say National League are total losers?

2009-07-15T02:24:00.000-07:00

You know, I took for granted all the years when the NL shoved it up the ass of the AL during my youth. That's right, every stinkin year I would get to laugh at the Freddy Lynns and Luis Tiants as Pete Rose and Steve Garvey would run around the bases every July. 12 consecutive wins to none for the AL

I am now paying dearly for all those years.

In what can only be described as an NL West pitching nightmare, Tim Lincecum, Chad Billingsley and Heath Bell gave up all four runs to the American League All Stars tonight in front of the most knowledgeable National League fans, in perhaps the most storied National League city, with their most storied current player, in front of their greatest player and perhaps the greatest NL player of all time, and laid a big fat doodoo on the front lawn. The American League won 4-3 over the National League, and broke the NL record of 12 consecutive wins to go 13 and 0 over the National League who hasn't won an All Star game since 1996, with apologies to President Clinton.

Once again, they lost by a single stinkin dangleberry out of their asses. But it was enough to propel perhaps the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Anaheim Angels, or any single one of any team you want, to home field advantage no matter what National League team they play in October. Granted, home field in Baseball is by no means a fait accomplis, but it still makes a difference. No team would it make a greater difference to than....the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have the best home record in Baseball (as well as the best road record mind you). But are Dodger fans more comfortable today with the prospect of a game 7 in Fenway against Josh Beckett, or New York against Sabathia, or game 7 in Anaheim against Lackey and his band of faggots? You get the picture.

The most un-fucking-believable thorn in Dodger fans sides after tonight's game, though, has got to be the despicable and gutless performance of their very own Billingsley, who very well may have single-handedly lost the world championship for them by allowing a 2 strike, 2 out double to left field by Joe Mauer, after Yadier Molina couldn't hold onto a third strike foul tip. Forget about Molina. The fact that this loser came back to allow the tying run, setting up the debacle of Heath Bell, is simply too much to take and sends the most detestable message, yet again, to your team that you are 100 % GRADE A PRIME CHOICE ASSHOLE, who cannot be trusted with an important game at any point the rest of your Dodger career.

And how about Lincecum? What the hell was that? Or Roy "let's trade our whole Dodger roster for him" Halladay giving up four consecutive hits and three earned in the first.

What may have been the most galling moment in a litany of humiliations, however, was that immediately after Chad Billingsley ate shit on the mound in the fifth, ex Dodger Edwin Jackson came out for the bottom of the 5th and made what seemed like three pitches to quickly end the inning. Great trade Ned!

But a more sinister and touchy subject needs to be addressed here, I'm afraid. That is the decision by either MLB itself, or the NL bigwigs, to chose players of color who are not legitimate All Stars in an attempt to fit the bill of political correctness and use the NL squad to fit some kind of marketing quota totally compromising the NL's chances of actually having the best players on the field to compete with the AL. Are you telling me that Arizona D'Backs Justin Upton deserved to be in left field late in the game for the NL over JUAN PIERRE? Or that Ryan Howard was the best choice to come up with two men on when all the NL needed was a stinking single? All one needs do is look to both squads and see the difference in ethnic makeup. How ironic that a player of color, Carl Crawford, wins the MVP on an overwhelmingly anglo dominated AL Squad. As long as the NL plays the Jackie Robinson card year in and year out, it will lose. And with the World Series at stake, it is too high a price to pay and is unfair to the fans of this great league and, I feel, the better game.

And what about Charlie Manuel and his decision to leave in Heath Bell, the third Padre pitcher to lose an All Star Game IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS with Johann Santana, Francisco Rodriguez and two more pitchers on the NL bench?

It ain't just AL dominance. It is really really bad coaching, combined with political correctness, and gutless NL pitching that has cost them home field the last six years.

Hey NL, your fate is in your own hands. For tonight, I'm sitting on mine.

The Batting Stance Guy.

2009-07-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

Cal Arts Alumni photos

2009-07-14T00:21:00.000-07:00

These are from the recent Cal Arts Alumni Association mixer that was in Pasadena last month. Thanks to Terianne Steinhauer for her generous spirit. If you'll notice, there is a glitch in the photographs. Somehow the camera took 100 pounds off of Kevin and Terianne, but added 100 pounds to Cal Arts President Steven Lavine and a whopping 250 pounds to my very slim 150 pound frame. Very strange.

Anthony Forkush, Terianne Steinhauer,Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown, Terianne Steinhauer, Steven Lavine, Anthony Forkush

Tony Forkush sent you an invitation to Meetup

2009-07-13T21:45:00.001-07:00

You're invited to join

It's time for Dodger Baseball

	Come one come all.
Tony Forkush

It's time for Dodger Baseball

A meetup group dedicated to the enjoyment and analysis of this years 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers as they make their run for a championship. Let's get Ned Colletti to fix this crazy team, add the pitc...

Check it Out

If you're not interested, there's no need to do anything. Meetup will not keep your email address.

Questions? You can email Meetup Support at: support@meetup.com
Meetup Support, 632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA

Here's to you Jamie B.

2009-07-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

Dodgers 7 - Brewers 4

As the first half of the season ends, (predictable opening salvo), I am putting away the aggravation cap and letting out a big belch of relief. I can only say: what a ballclub!

Bravo! Here's to the best team in Major League Baseball!

In spite of my mishugas, the full blown reality of '09 is that we have just witnessed the most impressive first half performance from the best Dodger team in three decades. Congrats to everyone involved.

However, of all the amazing stats and stories of this team, I think the one that jumps out at me right now is that the Los Angeles Dodgers are currently the best road team in major league baseball. We know how wonderful the team has been at home (a little more human in the last month at the ravine), but the fact that they now have a better road record than the Phillies is beyond incredible. The other mind blowing stat is their not having lost three in a row, the only team to have prevented that from happening. Grind city baby.

No one knows what the future brings (except maybe Frank and Jamie), but if somehow we get an ace guy, whether an Oswalt, Peavy, Lee or, in the best of possible worlds, Halladay, the Dodgers will be in the equation to the bitter end, and though they might stumble before the finish line, the opposing teams will have to go through the 7th circle of hell to beat them.

With six you get egg roll.

2009-07-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

As the trading deadline approaches (nice opening half sentence), Ned Colletti is in a rather unenviable position. The man without the contract extension may be forced to make some kind of a signature pitching move, or two or three, in order to secure his post. If he, and I mean Colletti, is really the GM of this team then, budget notwithstanding, he is under enormous pressure to win now. Or is he?

Perhaps it is just me, but does anyone on this blog believe that this year's team can progress unimpeded through the playoffs with the starting pitching as it is now constituted? How confident are Dodger fans with this proposition? These are really rhetorical questions and are not meant to be answered but mulled.

It seems time for our news media (Mr. Shaiken) to provide us with Ned Colletti's mindset into these matters, transparency or no.

I, for one, believe that this ballclub is two to three arms away from a championship. That's three players. When was the last time the Dodgers appeared this capable of a pennant and trophy? Last year was the opening act. Let us hope that fear of future diminution by Colletti, if he is the GM, will not sabotage this perhaps once in a lifetime opportunity to win now at all costs.

For what more is there really than that?

Bring on the hated ones.

2009-07-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Giant pitcher Jonathan Sanchez

The Great Bison Matt Kemp.

I don't remember the last time I had the following roller coaster of emotions: happy, sad, happy happy, sad sad, disgusted, anxious, sadly pathetic, disgruntled, nervously apoplectic, discarded, angry, really angry, rage, enervating rage, 5150 potential, elated, ELECTRIFIED, MIND NUMBINGLY DELIRIOUSLY ADRENALIZED...

depressed and incomprehensibly hateful at the story of the night in MLB, in spite of of a non-padre padre in attendance to witness a 3-8 pitcher get the love of some very foolish baseball Gods.

At the moment, I am hunkering down and ready to do battle with the rest of the entire world who seems to be aligned against the Dodgers, have anointed the hated ones from the hated east coast city by the bay as the darlings of the game and am roaring like my two fighting felines, spitting and hissing and saying to them all:

BRING IT ON BABY! BRING IT ON!

I guess the last time I felt that way was sometime last night.

Congrats Dodgers on your win.
Death to San Francisco and its infestation.

Trade deadline fast approaching

2009-07-10T00:24:00.000-07:00

After a lengthy statistical analysis of the Dodgers without any of the analysis, my dear friend, a longtime contributor to Dodgerthoughts who shall remain nameless, and I have finally slogged through all of the statistical nomenclature to come to something akin to Stan Conte's new injurymetric algorithm (featured in today's NY Times...that's right you heard me), and have decisively agreed as to what the Dodgers MUST have to proceed elegantly into October and, most hopefully, into the kith and kin of November.

The Dodgers MUST acquire not an inning's eating machine on the mound, but a bona fide top of the rotation ACE, if not two of them, and a mashing number four hole hitter. This addresses both areas of most immediate concern to the team: their lack of a bona fide top of the rotation ACE and a number four hole masher.

If the Dodgers wish to avoid the Chicago Cubs model of '08 and proceed apace into that good night, Ned Colletti must add these two signature elements. If the team stands pat and hopes beyond hope that Wolf and Kuroda and Kershaw have the stuff and substance to withstand such pressure, and that Andre Ethier can provide that power and strike fear into the heart of CC and Co., then more power to him. He will be handing over the reigns to Ms. Ng before Holloween.

Halladay/Dunn.
OR
Lee/Dunn
OR
Halladay/Oswalt/Dunn
OR
...

HOWDY FOLKS. WE'RE OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

2009-07-03T23:46:00.001-07:00

Welcome back friends. I promised nothing for two months and guess what? I am a man of my word. Here is my post from Sports Seriously's Blog earlier tonight:

I have never seen a visiting crowd completely take over a ballpark. Tonight, the fans of LA, having come down to see Manny, overwhelmed the San Diego fans and their bees with chants of "We Love You Manny" and "Let's Go Dodgers" that would have made a Nuremberg rally blush. The punky losers from San Diego simply couldn't hold a candle to the intimidating Vato Locos from the East Side of "EL LAY". Surprisingly, LAPD Police chief Bernard Parks, pronounced William Bratton, missed a golden opportunity to eliminate gang activity by coordinating with the mayor of San Diego to drop a small 20 killoton nuclear device on Petco park, eliminating the gang problem from the city of Los Ang-gulus.

More importantly, the Dodgers have sent Juan Pierre a stern message that crime pays. I wholeheartedly agree. Juan, meet the pine my friend. You are back where you deserve to be....NOT.

In any event, Manny is back, the Dodgers are on their way to the fall classic, where the chowderheads of Boston will be waiting with their J.D. Drew dolls, and the Dodgers will lose a horrifyig 7th game on a walk off by Homer Bush.

Go Blue. Duster Baker Rules. Die Cubs Die.

Signed,
Mike Scoscia's ASSSSSSS.

Oh, and one last thing-

WELCOME BACK MANNY!!!!!!!

Sorry. This site is closed. Check back next Spring Training.

2009-05-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

13 is the lucky....no wait....14.....wait.....

2009-05-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

Dodgers break the major league record for most consecutive wins to start a season. Tomorrow night they go for the Dodger record for the longest winning streak, period. This is now becoming bizarre, almost surreal. This focus on the teams we are beating fails to take into account that no other team has ever done this, so who cares how good the teams we are beating are. I have gone over every angle on that one.

Perhaps the most ominous aspect of this winning streak, or hot streak, is that of all the teams we have passed on the way to this record, history does not hold our ultimate end in good stead. None of the teams won the world series and virtually all of them fell apart in second half. It is way, way too early to see this as a portent of the entire year. Still, the fact that we have begun to seriously separate ourselves from our division is very positive. All of this without Kuroda no less.

Health is the key. Health and good fortune. If Manny stays healthy, all else will take care of itself. It makes me wonder why the Dodger brass waited so fucking long to sign his ass. Frankly, they should wrap him up for three more years right now and get this distraction over with, because at the All Star break its gonna come up again and again.

Heading over to the park with Jamie Bozian Thursday night to get me my TRANZIZTUH RADIO!

14 is the luckiest number.

Response to sub .500 argument for Dodgers early success.

2009-05-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

Good teams beat the teams they should beat. This is not a fait accompli by any means. In the game of Baseball, one can well make the case that beating teams you should is possibly more difficult than beating better teams. You cannot take out of the equation the psychological element of motivation, grind, days off, let downs, etc...especially when playing a sport where you play every day. Any team is susceptible to being defeated by any team in Baseball on any given night. There is a reason why only two teams in history have this many consecutive home wins to begin a season.

In addition, the starting pitching the Dodgers have faced and beaten is eye opening: Jake Peavy (twice), Chris Young (faced twice, beaten once), Barry Zito (1 and 1 which could have been two), Matt Cain, Cook and Jimenez (twice each), Lincecum (loss) and the numerous "never seen before" pitchers that the Dodgers of the past have succumbed to. Add to that the fact that our starters have averaged less then six innings a start, we have been without our number two in Kuroda (or arguably our number one), have lacked production from Raffy, Loney, and Martin...sure, sub .500 teams are just that, but as mentioned above, they haven't always been sub .500 this season.

Whatever happens on the road against the east, or here against the east or elite central, does not take away from the extraordinary accomplishment of this ballclub. Is this really our fattening up on weak sisters, or is this really about how powerful the Dodgers are at home? The record here in LA since the All Star break speaks volumes.

Home cookin' mystique.

Two and counting.

2009-05-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

by Ken Gurnick for MLB.Com

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers played at home Monday night. You know what that means.

A 7-2 victory over Arizona ran their home win streak at the start of the season to 11, setting a National League record. They also tied the 2003 Kansas City Royals for the second-longest in history, one shy of the MLB record set by Detroit in 1911. They are 34-9 at home since last year's All-Star break and 29-7 since Manny Ramirez came aboard.

The Dodgers now have the best record in baseball at 19-8, their best start to this point since 1983, the largest current lead in baseball at 5 1/2 games, the organization's largest lead since 2004 and they are 11 games above .500 for the first time since 2007.

They've won five straight, six of seven and are 17-5 since starting the season 2-3.

The only disclaimer: The Dodgers haven't played a team that currently has a record above .500. Not a one. That includes a stunning 18-6 record against the NL West and 3-1 against Arizona.

Not even hitting into their first triple play in 18 years could slow the roll, the Dodgers overcoming that and a pair of double plays with back-to-back homers on consecutive Doug Davis pitches in the first inning by Ramirez and Andre Ethier. Ramirez, coming off a one-day freshening, added an RBI double, a sacrifice fly, a double-play grounder and took a pitch in the backside.

Eric Stults, who didn't make it out of the third inning in his previous start and might have been pitching to keep his job in this one, contained the Diamondbacks to two runs in 5 2/3 innings and now is 3-1 as the rotation replacement for injured Opening Day starter Hiroki Kuroda, whose return date is still unknown.

"Obviously, after a rough one, it's always good to get back out there," Stults said. "I'd like to work deeper in the game, but it's just good to get a victory and keep the streak alive."

The 29-year-old Stults said he didn't come into this game worried about job security.

"For me, I just want to have a quality start," he said. "As far as what management does, I can't control that. I just have to be ready to pitch every fifth day. You start to think about too many other things, that's when bad things happen."

Manager Joe Torre said Stults showed the aggressiveness that was lacking in San Francisco last week. Stults said he even mixed in a cut fastball he worked on in his bullpen session, a pitch he shelved because it had little effect while he pitched predominantly in the desert air of Las Vegas the past three years.

"That was a good outing for him," said Torre. "I thought he mixed his pitches well. He threw inside to right-handed hitters, in off the plate. That's necessary with the changeup he has."

Stults was followed by Ronald Belisario, Guillermo Mota, Cory Wade and Jonathan Broxton, and the group allowed only one hit over the final 3 1/3 innings. Broxton struck out two and now has 23 strikeouts and only two hits allowed in 13 innings with a 0.69 ERA.

Torre said his concern over a letdown after sweeping the four-game series with San Diego was not realized.

"The thing I'm proud about was we had a very tough series with close games against San Diego and we came in like that didn't happen," he said. "We played with a lot of energy and a lot of resolve. This club didn't come in thinking it was an automatic win."

Of course, playing at home, that's been the outcome so far this season.

The triple play was a second-inning hit-and-run with Russell Martin on second, Matt Kemp on first and Casey Blake lining to shortstop Josh Wilson, who flipped to second baseman Felipe Lopez to double off Martin, with Lopez throwing to first baseman Conor Jackson to erase Kemp.

It was the first triple play the Dodgers have hit into since Aug. 4, 1991, against Houston, when Alfredo Griffin hit into one at the Astrodome. It also was the first at Dodger Stadium since 1998, when Colorado's Kurt Abbott hit into one.

"At least it means you've got guys on base with no outs, and usually good things happen," said Stults.

Ramirez, Ethier and Kemp each had two hits, Kemp also scoring twice with two stolen bases. One was third base, when he decoyed Arizona catcher Chris Snyder by intentionally wandering off second base to draw a throw behind him, then sprinting to third.

Who can make a rainbow?

2009-05-04T02:01:00.001-07:00

Taken from cell phone of TV by moi.

The O'Dog lovingly greeting La Poquita nina at the Ravine.

Jeff Kent who?

Is it live or is it Memorex?

2009-05-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres today at Chavez Ravine to go to 10 and 0 at home to start the 2009 season. They now hold the all time mark for any Dodger team in either New York or Los Angeles for win to start a season and have tied three other teams who also hold that mark: the 1983 Atlanta Braves (ironically helmed by current Dodger skipper Joe Torre), The 1970 Chicago Cubs, and the 1918 New York Giants. The Major League record for consecutive home wins to start a season is 12 held by the Detroit Tigers of 19...something or other. The Dodgers are now three wins away from accomplishing this feat. They must go through Doug Davis and Max "afterburner" Scherzer of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday and Tuesday respectively, and then whomever the Washington Nationals throw at them on Wednesday night. Trying to push the Dodgers over the threshold will be Eric Stults, who couldn't get out of the second inning in his last start against the Giants in San Francisco, Jeff Weaver on Tuesday night, who hasn't had a Major League start in over a year and half, and finally Clayton "the kid" Kershaw on Wednesday. If the Dodgers accomplish this feat, expectations will most likely be extremely high for them to not only win the west but to go very deep in the playoffs. However, expectations can be daunting: none of those three teams mentioned even made it to the playoffs.

A case can very easily be made that the Dodgers are feasting on sub .500 teams who can't produce runs of any kind. True. But don't forget about the pitching in the NL West. The Dodgers have already seen Jake Peavy twice, Chris Young twice, Barry Zito twice, Randy Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Dan Haren, Ubaldo Jimenez and Aaron Cook twice, and some other starters they have never seen before. The accomplishment of ten and 0 is valid, if for no other reason than that.

The Dodgers may have accomplished something even more impressive today. They swept the San Diego Padres for the first time in a four game series in their history, not just at home but on the road. The Padres already accomplished that feat in 1983. Yep, you got it, the same year Joe Torre helmed the Atlanta Braves to that ten and 0 start.

Wow!

Mannys being Mannys.

2009-05-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

The city of Los Angeles can now boast of having two Manny's as their native sons. Dominican superstar Manny Ramirez must now be joined by Filipino superstar boxer Manny Pacquiao, who trains at Freddy Roach's Wild Card gym in Hollywood California. Pacquiao quelled any possible question about his pound for pound status tonight with a two round total destruction of Manchester England's blue moon son Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton. From the moment the bell rang for round one, it was a total mismatch. Ironically, my friend Alex and I both gave Hatton a pretty solid chance at the upset tonight, along with my friend Michael's brother in law Ladonne. All of us are very informed boxing fans and all three of us look like idiots. Paradoxically, it was my friend Alex's wife Roberta who knew the moment this fight was signed that Hatton would be toast. Funny how those who don't know often know more than those of us who think we know (say what?). Any way you look at it, Pac Man must now be placed in the discussion of the greatest of all time. Whether you agree with the judge's decisions in the Juan Manuel Marquez fights (many still think JMM won BOTH fights...I believe Manny won both), the fact is that he has beaten Marco Antonio Barrera twice (destroyed him in fight 1), is 2 and 1 against Terrible' Morales (with a wipe out in fight three), 2 and 0 over Marquez, arguably the other greatest fighter in the world, crushed De La Hoya and massacred Hatton. Thank God the fight ended when it did tonight because if Hatton had a better chin he would be dead from the accumulation of bombs to the head and body. It looks like his next big fight will be either Pretty Boy Floyd if Floyd, who announced his comeback earlier today in Vegas, defeats Juan Manuel Marquez in July, not necessarily a fait accomplis by any means.

In other news.....Dodgers are now 9 and 0 at home to tie the 1946 Brooklyn Bums for the best home start in franchise history. Tomorrow they go for the record...ho hum.

Dodgers walk the walk against Jake Peavy, 1 to 0

2009-05-02T02:45:00.000-07:00

Russell Martin barely held up on Ball Four to walk in the winning run in the ninth inning against an unhittable Jake Peavy at the Ravine tonight. It is the second walk off walk by the Dodgers this season, the only team in the league to do that. The Dodgers are now 8 and 0 at home, tying the best record in Dodgers history to start a year. Tomorrow night they attempt to go for the record set by Brooklyn in 1947. Clayton Kershaw matched Peavy pitch for pitch and Will Ohman and Jonathan Stud Boy Broxton shut the door on a heavily overmatched Padres offense. While Kershaw struck out a career high 13 Giants on the last homestand, tonight's performance was actually more impressive. He didn't budge against a team that only struck out twice against him and had the ball in play all night long. Kershaw got out of a series of jams and proved that he has the mentality to gut it out. This was a very big win for the team and cements them as a team that can find ways to beat you no matter the situation. They are also the only team left unbeaten at home.

Keep on Trucking Blue.

Fleece Blanket Bingo

2009-05-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Dodgers bats defeat Padres 8 to 5 at the Ravine.

After J Mac self destructed, the resurrection of Jeff Weaver began. The youthful blond surfer locks replaced by a veteran snarl, Weaver worked both sides of the plate for four innings, keeping the Friars and A Gonz quiet. Little O'hman came in and gave up the double to Gonz putting the Pads ahead briefly but the Blue's offense is just to potent. Homers by Orlando Hudson and a Ruthian shot by ManRam electrified the fans and lifted the stadium off the ground and propelling the team to its seventh consecutive win at home to remain undefeated as April, the cruelest month, was very generous to Angelenos.

We'll see what Kershaw has tonight against Peavy.

Our pitching blows.

Tonights Dodger game from San Fran: skip it.

2009-04-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

Turned the game off in the first with the Dodgers down 4 to 0 and a completely unhittable Tim Lincecum on the mound. See you tomorrow night.

Best pitcher in baseball.

A number of things had to happen sequentially tonight I believe for the Dodgers to have a chance to beat Tim Lincecum. First off, they needed to have a productive top of the first. All three balls were hit on the nail but somehow found their way into the gloves of the Giants. As soon as I saw that, and Lincecum got out of that top of the first having made all of five pitches, or something like that, I knew that we were in massive trouble.

Secondly, it was imperative that Stults have a solid game. Remember, this is one of the worst offenses in baseball in the Giants. They are at the bottom of the league in almost every offensive category. As soon as Stults began to make his pitches I could see there was going to be no chance for us to win tonight. I even wonder if Torre, knowing that, rested Kemp. After Lewis made out, it was a merry go round of Giant hitters. This is what Eric Stults is. The matchup was a mismatch tonight and the Dodgers, under any ordinary circumstance would have enormous difficulty beating this man. After going down by 4 it was mail it in time, see you tomorrow San Diego.

First round knockout, as I suspected.

Dodgers pop the clutch tonight in Frisco with 5 to 3 win.

2009-04-29T00:43:00.000-07:00

Manny Ramirez doubled three times, the last to set the table for the go ahead runs in the ninth inning of a game that was tied at 3-3. Andre Ethier came up and had a ten pitch at bat, finally doubling Ramirez in to make it 4 to 3. Matt Kemp then tripled in Ethier, and the Dodgers would end up winning 5 to 3 as lefty Will Ohman retired the Giants one, two , three in the bottom of the ninth. Chad Billingsley would have recorded his fifth win in the month of April, the most since Kaz Ishii in 2001 and before that Orel Hersheiser in 1988, were it not for Jonathan Broxton walking in the tying run in the eighth inning. Broxton was asked to make a five out save again as Joe Torre simply has no 8th inning bridge in the bullpen until Hong Chi Kuo irons out his problems. Overall, Bills didn't have his best stuff but gutted it out for a ND.

There were a myriad of plays in this game, from wonderful to awful. The most memorable, however, was clearly the relay off the wall from Kemp to Furcal gunning down Randy Wynn at the plate trying to score under Martin's glove. Replays seem to indicate that Wynn got his hand under the tag, but hey who gives a shit? The Dodgers came up with numerous big clutch plays tonight to counter their inability to cash in runs off of their 8 or more walks. This was a big win, keeps them at .500 on the road trip and they absolutely needed it as they face the best pitcher perhaps in baseball tomorrow night in Tim Lincecum.

The difference in the game tonight? Why, Manny Ramirez of course.

Really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY, bad loss to the hated ones 5 to 4.

2009-04-28T01:55:00.000-07:00

I started the game at midnight on my DVR sans commercials. It was depressing until the rally. After that, I felt quite confident that some kind of 8th inning combination of Kuo, or Ohman could have BRIDGED THE GAP (important key words here) to Broxton in the ninth. What a debacle. Three lefty relievers in the pen and he opts to continue with Belly. Wow! It is now 2:00AM, I am so frustrated that I won't sleep for at least two to three more hours. I went from depressed to high to completely pissed off in two and a half hours.
I also do feel that the ridiculous scheduling of April has a lot to do with what is going on here. The absurd amount of road games has begun to take a toll on this warm weather club. I suspect it will get much better beginning in May with our massive amount of home games.
Still, its the Giants so this sucks gefilte fish. When it ends like this, with these kinds of circumstances, I opt to not thank God for my day.

I understand there are losses in the game of baseball. But its THIS kind of bullshit loss that really fucks with my day and just puts a nice big sheen of shit on my day as I go off to slumberland. Thank God there will be another game tomorrow with a potentially different result. I'll admit it thought, its this kind of shit that makes me want to throw the television off of the balcony into the swimming pool. Oh, wait, they filled that in with concrete.

I hate this game sometimes.

Dodgers take game 2 against Rockies, again 6 to 5

2009-04-26T03:01:00.000-07:00

Boys in blue take another one from the woeful Rocks. Trancoso showed what a man he was. four shutout innings. Dodgers finding ways to beat you every way possible. It's three A.M. and I am still awake. I've become a vampire. Whoa.

Dodgers win brutal game 1 at Coors Field 6 to 5. Shit, I'm exhausted!

2009-04-24T23:09:00.001-07:00

Just finished watching the DVR version of tonight's Dodgers V. Rockies game from That pissoir called Coors Field. Just look at those losers and their children playing baseball in forty degree weather a mile above the earth. Who gives a shit. Fuck them! Assholes.

But anyway, the Dodgers were MEN tonight, let me tell you. All except that little bitch Matt Kemp who struck out like ten fucking times and then almost killed Manny Ramirez AND Rafael Furcal with one fell swoop. Dodgers left like a hundred and ten men on base but still somehow, someway found a way to ward off the evil spirits of Brad Hawpe and Troy SuckMYWitzki. Manny Corpus my ass gave up the go ahead to my boy Ozzie Ausmus, you know the genius from Dartmouth, who is about to overshadow the roid master Martin out of the lineup. Well, not really, but Loretta and my boy Ozzie really took it to the Rocks tonight. Also, Hong Chi Kuo pitches like a mental patient (I should know), throwing hundred mile and hour balls over the backstop and into the camera well. He sucks fuck, at least right now.

But my boys in blue kicked fuck tonight. Although those assholes from San Diego keep fucking around and hanging on around my balls beating the Pirates in extras tonight. Fuck off those fuckers. They will drop off soon enough. Losers!

Anyway, I will take all psych meds tomorrow. But for tonight.....Go UTAH JAZZ!!!!!!!

Opening day tomorrow

2009-04-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Testing one two three, testing.

(Dodgers VS. Padres)
Peavy V. Kuroda.

What fools these mortals be.

2009-03-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

If you have any doubts about what Co-dependency is, then you probably don't have it. If you continually find yourself in nightmare situations with people, people who you have no idea why you have anything to do with (present readers to this blog excluded), then you have some idea as to the severity of co-dependency. While it is helpful to identify perpetrators and "qualifiers", the most helpful thing of all is to recognize that it is YOU that is the problem, or rather "I". This is the first step in getting help.

Co-dependency is very tough to recognize because it is often hidden by behaviors that enable, enmesh and generally confuse one. But when you get some idea of the horrors of doing the same thing over and over again with people, whether in friendships or an intimate relationship, you realize just how insidious this dynamic is. Suddenly when you suggest to people your needs and they just laugh at you and continue to attempt to recycle the dynamic of your friendship, well you are in for a big surprise. Why isn't that person doing what I have requested they do? Why do they simply continue with their "agenda". Once again, it is most helpful to realize that it is YOU that is the one with the problem. And WHAT a problem it is. To actually face ones codependency can be one of the most difficult and horrifying tasks ever, because it requires a total examination of ones past and the original qualifier who began this entire cycle: the parent/s. To actually attempt to short circuit this cycle of addiction, and it is an addiction, means having to look at shit that you have buried for years and years. But as you get closer to the truth, the jig is up and you can no longer pretend that the same systems work anymore. There is enormous liberation in this, but not until you have gone through agonizing pain.

I attended my first Coda meeting tonight. It was extremely hopeful. Anyone locked in a terrible relationship with anyone can take to heart the fact that there is help out there. Google Codependents anonymous and there will be a list of meetings in your area. Don't let this deadly disease take you down. Have strength and be of good courage. There is help.

Acid flashback

2009-03-10T11:51:00.001-07:00

Could it be true?

2009-03-03T22:21:00.000-08:00

Multiple media outlets reporting that Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers have agreed in principle to a two year, $45 Million dollar deal, however neither the Dodgers nor Scott Boras' office have confirmed any deal being completed. Manny is either in LA or currently en route from Miami and will meet with owner Frank McCourt tomorrow at Dodger stadium, presumably to take a physical. There still may be some minor haggling over the way that the deferred money will be doled out. When that is completed, I will be breaking Matzoh all over my head and dancing on a bed of dreadlocks.

More later. Still cautious but feeling it.

Four months of my life I will never get back.

2009-03-01T22:54:00.000-08:00

As the weekend sets into Monday, I am still up long past my bedtime trying to make sense of the most disgraceful sports negotiation I have ever witnessed. Four months ago the Los Angeles Dodgers made their first offer of two years and 45 Million dollars to Manny Ramirez and agent Scott Boras. It is now the first (soon to be the second) of March of 2009 and Manny is still not a Dodger. The most recent permutation coming earlier today as Boras offered a "new" offer that has the two sides roughly $3 stinkin Million dollars apart. But McCourt is starting to see blood and instead of just signing the deal, he is grabbing his crotch and acting all Nigguh on Boras. He is going in for the kill and, not unlike Kim Ng when she high fived the Dodger brass after defeating Gagne in arbitration several years ago, McCourt is acting like a little beeeyawtch. Great way to pave the red carpet for the greatest right handed hitter who ever lived, the man who single handed brought your team to the brink of a world series, great way to welcome him home. What an Irish prickly moron.

And its still not a sure thing. Manny doesn't have a prayer in hell to go anywhere else,that's clearly why Boras is playing this thing for all its worth. But the acrimonious, testy, nasty ass nature of these negotiations have set a new low for me. Manny will be a Dodger, unless he drops dead somehow which ain't gonna happen. The team will be a very formidable ballclub as O'Dawgs performance in Arizona showed today what his presence alone does for the defense. These negotiations have taken a toll on me personally however. Everyday looking at the paper and reading more and more of this nonsense has me totally spent. I believe, however, that these negotiations will end up being a class in some college somewhere. They are that ridiculous, or in the words of ESPN's senior baseball analysist Jason Stark, "insane".

The scumbags never had any intention of signing Manny.

2009-02-27T22:56:00.000-08:00

After last nights post, I would have been hard pressed to find a more disgraceful day and set of circumstances. But today absolutely has seen the lowest most slime filled lies from a sports franchise I have ever witnessed.

After last night's press release from Frank Mccourt excoriating the super agent for turning down a two year, $45 Million dollar offer with a player opt out in the second year, the truth became known this morning when Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times referred to a source which made it clear that the two year offer was for deferred money. In other words, rather than Ramirez making $25 Million guaranteed and paid in full in the first year, and then the remaining player optioned $20 Million for year two, the Dodgers had every intention of doling out the money over five years or more. The first year Ramirez would be paid $10 Mil, then another $10 Mil for the second year, and the remaining $25 Million in two $10 Million years and a final $5 Million in 2013. Further, the deferred amount would be interest free, which means that if the economy continues to tank, the money would be worth less in five years with no compensation to escalate the total amount. Apparently Boras proposed a counter-offer of $55 Million to cover that interest and that's when the Dodgers pulled the offer off the table. Currently there is no offer at all.

What is incomprehensible is not the deferred money, which apparently was part of the deal since November. What is incomprehensible and reprehensible, is that the Dodgers claimed in a mass e-mailing and public forum, that Boras rejected the deal outright. In addition, owner Mccourt rambled on accusing Boras of manipulating the Dodgers in an attempt to get them to bid against themselves. He claimed that the negotiations would have to start over from scratch. This was why the public perception that Manny was a greedy asshole was so strong last night. It was not until today that the real truth came out and that we saw that the Dodgers were attempting to crucify Manny and Boras for their own nefarious purposes, which I now believe were to create a backlash against the player and his agent in attempts to deflect criticism away from the truth, which was that they never, EVER had any intention of signing Manny in the first place, as remarkable as that sounds. In fact, they have cynically used these negotiations to manipulate the season ticket sales and are now coming to the end of them.

To suggest that this is an abomination of the stewardship of a civic franchise and treasure like the Dodgers is the understatement of the century. Frank and Jamie McCourt should be investigated by Major League Baseball at once and if there is any indication that they have ethically or otherwise violated the spirit or letter of ownership and/or the collective bargaining agreement, they must be removed as owners of the team and the Dodgers placed in a trusteeship until a legitimate owner is chosen. However, that would also continue to implicate Bud Selig in his tacit approval of the Mccourts in the first place. I do not remember an off-season this dark and this ugly, from A-Rod, to the NY Yankee Stanford frozen assets case, to these despicable Dodgers/Manny/Boras negotiations. If Selig doesn't come in and put an end to this, he is simply cementing his legacy as the absolute pariah of all baseball commissioners and should be banned from the game forever.

As far as the Dodgers are concerned, they lost 18 to 0 to the Mariners in Arizona today. I wonder if these lies and duplicities had any effect on the teams performance on the field. You think?

Frank and Jamie McCourt planning to sell the Dodgers

2009-02-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

While there may be no evidence to support that statement, by all indications these last five months of stripping, cutting and finally the indignity of watching the dumb show called "Lets pretend to sign Manny", clearly one can surmise that the idiot couple have finally had enough.

With Manny Ramirez turning down the Dodgers fourth offer, which was essentially the same offer each time in different clothing, my hope is that the fans can really see the McCourt's for what they are: greedy lying scumbags who have used the public media to create the exact opposite perception of Boras and Ramirez. Since that day five months ago when Jamie McCourt made the statement to the effect of "would the fans of LA rather have forty youth baseball fields or Manny", anyone who had a fucking brain could tell that the lying Jew bitch and her Mick fucking husband Irish Frank were full of shit. Then a series of preposterous offers to Boras, all made public in a free for all in the press with Bill Plaschke and others behind them, organized by the PR staff of Josh Rawitch and company, the Dodgers continued to manipulate the situation into convincing the average imbecile that Boras and Ramirez are greedy bastards in an economy that the average person is struggling in.

Let's face it, the Dodgers never had ANY intention of signing Ramirez otherwise, if they really valued him, they would have done it. The fact that without Manny, the Dodgers payroll is now $70 Million dollars in a market this size, and that they have given only two "long term" deals to Furcal and Blake at three years and some few millions, well, all of this is an indication that the team is being stripped for sale. Frank and Jamie also can see the handwriting on the wall...the attendance will be seriously affected by the recession already, including the lack of tickets sold at Camelback Ranch, and without Manny it will be totally untenable to continue to own this franchise. I predict we are seeing the last year of Frank and Jamie as owners.

As for Manny, he will most likely end up where everyone else ends up with such a pedigree...in pin stripes. As for the Dodgers, I will do everything in my power to not watch the games or step foot into that stadium again. I have had enough.

Author Elizabeth Gilbert speaks on creativity.

2009-02-22T15:01:00.000-08:00

Polish Poem by David Lynch and Chrysta Bell

2009-02-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

POLISH POEM ----- Chrysta Bell & David Lynch _ INLAND EMPIRE (2006) -- Truly Haunting and Beautiful Ballad ( Closing Scenes ) -

Indian Thriller

2009-02-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

Eat your heart out, Michael!

WOWEE! Tonight's episode of "Lost".

2009-02-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

One of the best episodes ever. The show has finally and unabashedly entered the realm of pure archetype. Using a well, which in Jungian psychology is classical mythological imagery for the soul, continues to place Lost as the only show on TV that has left the realm of the world spirit, finally bringing us into the psyche and the underworld.

I am totally stoked that the ratings are the worst ever for the season 5 premiere. Anytime a piece of art attempts to subvert it will lose tons of viewers. The creators are totally free to mine the dreamworld.

How in Hades name did Ben get that ring of Jins? Alechemy, no doubt.

Terminally single

2009-02-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about how to plot the days I have now been single. It has been over 8 and 1/2 years. If I divide that by 365 days that comes up to roughly 3,102 days that God has deemed it unnecessary for me to find someone to share my life with. Granted, I have not been proactive about searching for that special someone for sure. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that the idea of actually BEING in a relationship is the most repulsive concept imaginable. Interesting dilema here. My life is utterly empty due to a lack of love and yet when I actually think about the prospect of such a possiblity I want to throw up.

I'm not sure if it is the fact that of the miniscule opportunities for intimacy that have come my way, each one was more agonizing, more grotesque, more monstrous than the one before it. Why I would pine in any way shape or form for something different than that is a mystery to me. Relationships have been nothing short of the biggest waste of my life. Even the moments when I thought someone cared and there may have been a shimmering light of something lasting, I always knew at the core that there could be the possiblity of abandonment. Ladies and gentleman, I do not DO abandonment, and nothing any of you can say will help me to have a different perspective about it. It is something I have to come to on my own. I know that people who have a history of relationships will attempt to give advice. Save it! Only God will let me in on his little secret as to how to get out of this maze of feeling that I don't deserve love in my life.

I'm not saying that God has put this insanity into my head. Most likely it is the ego, the phantom illness, that keeps alive my hopelessness. But what if it is God that is doing it. What if God has a plan and a reason that is beyond human reason to keep me in this state of deprivation from love. Most likely it is "I" that has abandoned myself. I have never felt so completely stuck in my life at any point since I have been alive.

Here is the horror: lets say that I get that relationship. If I truly feel I don't deserve such a thing, then it won't be here when it comes. You get my point? I won't even be aware of the reality of its existence. To yearn for something that you cannot even experience when it arrives...I can think of no greater definition of hell.

But for today...3,103.

But, hey, who's counting?

Vinny, is that you?

2009-02-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

Who would have thunk it? His maestro chose the right profession in the broadcast booth, I dare say.

It's so simple. A child could do it.

2009-02-04T11:30:00.001-08:00

Is this really happening? Are we only a mere two weeks away from spring training and the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez have utterly failed to come to an agreement to keep him in LA? Who is at fault here? Is it Frank McCourt and his baffled shock at Scott Boras' intractability on getting Manny a 5 or 6 year deal at $25Mil a season? Or is it Scott "I'm holding the national pastime hostage" Boras and his comments to McCourt to "be careful when playing chicken that you just might blink" that is to blame? I mean really, what's next, a pissing contest? And is it really true that virtually NO TEAM has any interest in signing Manny? Nobody?

Uh...guys...hello. I have been talking collusion 5 for over two months now. Today the first article I have seen all winter referring to such a spectre came out. Baseball scribe Bill Shaiken mulled over this very real possibility in the LA Times Sports section. Over one hundred free agents are still without contracts. By the end of the week, Major League Baseball will have to determine if Vero Beach may have a spring training again. No, not a return by the Dodgers, but a repeat of the 1994 Homestead, Florida free-agent spring training camp needed for all of the unsigned players. What gives?

This time, "its the economy, stupid!" just doesn't cut it. Clearly there is an attempt to contravene the collective bargaining agreement which stipulates that at no time, even in tough economic climates, can an atmosphere of agreement between owners sway the market place. It is illegal, plain and simple. If Major League Baseball doesn't back down, and if the player's union decides it really has a case, then who's playing chicken now?

Mazeltov!

2009-01-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

New White House Staff!

So far we have:

Rahm Emanuel - Chief of Staff - Jewish

David Axelrod - Senior Advisor to the President - Jewish

Ronald Klain - Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States - Jewish

Larry Summers - Economic Advisor to the President - Jewish

Paul Volcker - Economic Advisor to the President, Former Head of Fed Reserve - Jewish

Tim Geithner - Treasury Secetary - Jewish

Peter Orszag - Head of Budget - Jewish

Am I the only one noticing that Obama and Biden are not so much assembling staff, as gathering a minyan?

-Forwarded from Hollywood Mark

The forgotten Iron Man

2009-01-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

Dodger second baseman Jeff Kent will retire today from the game of baseball. He will give a speech at approximately 11:30AM from Dodger Stadium. Almost no one will be listening. Virtually no one here on campus at Hollywood High School, a known baseball school, nor radio announcers salivating over Kobe Bryant's dislocated finger are discussing the retirement. This says all you need to know about the sorry state of our society. He will retire with a .290 career batting average, 377 home runs, 1,518 RBIs and a .500 slugging percentage. His 351 home runs hit as a second baseman are 74 more than the next closest second baseman, Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg. In his last four seasons he hit .291 with 75 home runs for the Dodgers. He will also retire not having garnered the ring he so longed for.

The 2000 National League MVP, Kent was a five-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger. He drove in more than 100 runs eight times (a record at the position), scored at least 100 runs three times and had at least 20 home runs 12 times. In 2008 he passed Ralph Kiner, Gil Hodges and Carlton Fisk on the all-time home-run list and passed Billy Williams, Dave Parker and Mickey Mantle on the all-time RBIs list. He's tied with Eddie Murray for 20th on the all-time doubles list with 560.

His numbers the last four years are second only to Jackie Robinson as a Dodger over that same time period. Whether this first ballot hall of famer goes in as a Dodger is anyone's guess. I suspect he will go in as a Giant. And so he should.

Another old school baseball player rides off into the sunset leaving us with questions about what kind of player will replace him. I have confidence in Blake Dewitt as a young man of character to fill his shoes nicely. But the numbers...OH the numbers.

Double Standard

2009-01-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the Los Angeles Unified School District restructured the schedule of the entire district in order that all students might have an opportunity to watch the inauguration of president elect Barack Obama. Every class on campus here at Hollywood High School witnessed this historic event in the theater auditorium. This was essentially a mandatory event, one in which I chose to not attend.

Four years ago when then president elect George W. Bush was reelected to a second term, the mood on campus was anything but historic. Anger and animus were the order of the day. I do not recall being given the option of attending an inauguration for Mr. Bush that day, nor do I recall anything like the restructuring that occured yesterday.

While not a fan of either Mr. Bush nor Mr. Obama, I believe this sends a very bad message to our students. If indeed our roles as educators is to teach students to think and choose for themselves, this inconsistency is dangerous. While I understand the historic nature of the day, I am troubled by this double standard.

The Dodger Tony Show

2009-01-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

Gabcast! Stop this noise in my head #26 - The Dodger Tony Show

Episode #2. Topics include upcoming arbitration for Dodger's catcher Russell Martin, Manny Ramirez, Spring Training, Camelback Park, Hall of Fame and others.

My response to the so called Jews who chained themselves up at the Israeli Consulate in LA today.

2009-01-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

The sheer white heat generated by this discussion is evidence of blatant anti Semitism and bigotry coupled with a grotesque ignorance of the facts as related to the so called crisis in the middle east. The fact that "only" a handful of Israelis have been killed in "disproportion" to the innocent Palestinian children and elderly is an affront to those who understand that if the Palestinians COULD kill a thousand Jews they would do it in a heartbeat. The horrific actions of Hamas to cynically place armaments in civilian locations WITH civilians in these dwellings acting as "human shields" is one of the most subhuman acts I have ever had the disgust to comprehend. The singular motive of Hamas to sacrifice innocent Palestinians to court world anti-Jewish opinion is incomprehensible. In addition, the almost 50 percent split in opinion on this post is terrifying and reveals a much larger anti Jewish issue in Los Angeles, far worse than I suspected but knew. Thankfully we have a zillion Latinos who have no dog in this hunt.
I suspect that the group of Jews who chained themselves up are converts. No wait, converts would care far more than these self- loathing cripples.
Thank you Tamar Andrews for your brilliant post.
I encourage all of you to see the movie "Defiance". Learn from history people. Thank you Adonai for blessing the Israelis with one remarkable character asset: they don't give a sh...t what you think.

NYTimes.com: Israelis United on War as Censure Rises Abroad

2009-01-12T21:25:00.001-08:00

This page was sent to you by: tforkush@juno.com

INTERNATIONAL / MIDDLE EAST | January 13, 2009
Israelis United on War as Censure Rises Abroad
By ETHAN BRONNER
Israel's critics abroad call the Gaza war a disproportionate response. In Israel, very few people see it that way.

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Bup Cumpston: The Date.

2009-01-12T18:12:00.001-08:00

Camp Midnight's take off on "Love Connection" with the affable Bup Cumpston showing us all how its done...NOT!

The Dodger Tony Show

2009-01-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Gabcast! Stop this noise in my head #25 - The Dodger Tony Show

Jamie Bozian and Dodger Tony discuss all things Dodgers. Will the Dodgers re-sign Manny Ramirez? Are Frank and Jamie McCourt committed to winning? Is there collusion going on this off-season? What are the chances of the Dodgers repeating as NL West champs? These and other subjects are discussed in this first episode of the Dodger Tony Show.

Hamas' war crimes

2009-01-11T12:18:00.001-08:00

This story was sent to you by: tforkush@juno.com

This is the sad truth of Hamas.

--------------------
Hamas' war crimes
--------------------

In Gaza, it targets Israeli citizens with rockets, then shields its fighters behind Palestinian civilians.

By Alan M. Dershowitz

January 10 2009

Atemporary cease-fire in Gaza that simply allows Hamas to obtain more lethal weapons will assure a repetition of Hamas' win-win tactic of firing rockets at Israeli civilians while using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-dershowitz10-2009jan10,0,2587090.story

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

Dershowitz on Larry King

2009-01-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

Gabcast! Stop this noise in my head #24 - Allan Dershowitz tells James Zogby to put it where the sun don't shine.

The Harvard attorney refuses to back down in this Lincoln-Douglas debate on the middle east on Larry King live.

NYTimes.com: CONNECTIONS; Mutating Virus: Hatred of Jews

2009-01-04T21:49:00.001-08:00

This page was sent to you by: tforkush@juno.com

Message from sender:
In response to your contention Jamie that anti-Semitism has declined.

ARTS & IDEAS/CULTURAL DESK | May 17, 2003
CONNECTIONS; Mutating Virus: Hatred of Jews
By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
At a conference on anti-Semitism at the Center for Jewish History earlier this week one panelist told a classic Jewish joke: After a Jewish man is rejected for a job as a radio announcer, the story goes, an acquaintance asks him why he was passed over. Simple, the man replies with an agonized stutter, Anti-S-S-S-S-Semitism.

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Palestinian liars

2009-01-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Truth About Gaza
by Martin Peretz

I don't doubt the suffering caused by Israel's bombing of Gaza, and I don't doubt that many innocents are victims. Of course, had Hamas not been launching missiles against the population of Israel Gaza would have been left undisturbed. Enough is enough.

Arabic is a language easily taken to exaggeration and hyperbole. The easy use of the word genocide is an instance of this Arab habit. There is no genocide in Sudan but there is in the Strip. Sorry, I had it in reverse. This lying also extends to details that can be quickly checked by reporters who don't. Would you not think that, with the hysteria about starvation, you'd see some bloated bellies on the TV? Instead, you see healthy children and strong young men in the rituals of resistance.

And sneakers. You have to look closely at the sneakers, seemingly new and, of course, costly.

In the midst of all this catastrophe propaganda there are some facts. These were provided to me by Jacob Dallal, an old and trusted friend who happens to work for the spokesman's unit of the I.D.F. He has been my informant in several comparable situations: he has never told me a lie or even a fib.

* Today (Wed.), 93 truckloads with 2,500 tons of food and medical supplies were transferred to Gaza.
* Since the beginning of the operation in Gaza Saturday, 6,500 tons of food and medicine were transferred to Gaza.
* The World Food Program has informed Israel that they will not be resuming shipment of food into Gaza because their warehouses are at full capacity, with enough supplies for at least 2 weeks.
* 12 Palestinians from Gaza entered Israel today (Wed.) for medical treatment.

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JPost Article From Friend

2009-01-04T13:44:00.001-08:00

Your friend, Dodger Tony , tforkush@juno.com, has sent you an article from JPost.

His / her message: Obama's silence is becoming more ominous by the day. He needs to make some sort of statement unequivocal in support of Israel and now..

Article: Obama should speak up now in support of Israel

Click here to view the entire article:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1230733173577

AOL Users click here to view the article:
<A HREF="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1230733173577">http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1230733173577</A>

Don't miss out on any of the important breaking news stories and in-depth analysis about Israel you can only get from JPost.For more news updates, go to http://www.jpost.com

JPost Article From Friend

2009-01-04T13:43:00.001-08:00

Your friend, Dodger Tony , tforkush@juno.com, has sent you an article from JPost.

His / her message: Obama's silence is becoming more ominous by the day. He needs to make some sort of statement unequivocal in support of Israel and now..

Article: Obama should speak up now in support of Israel

Click here to view the entire article:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1230733173577

Don't miss out on any of the important breaking news stories and in-depth analysis about Israel you can only get from JPost.For more news updates, go to http://www.jpost.com

A story from ynet has been sent to you

2009-01-04T13:36:00.001-08:00

02:48 , 01.04.09

Gaza Op

Misplaced pity Photo: AP

Don't pity the Palestinians

Pity worst form of patronizing, will ensure Gazans continue to whine instead of acting
Adi Dvir

Observers worldwide have been expressing great pity for the people of Gaza, many of whom have been killed, injured, or forced to flee their homes during the ongoing IDF operation. This pity may be a natural emotional reaction, yet it is unethical and immoral.

To pity the people of Gaza is to patronize them, in essence implying that they do not control their fate, the state of their government, or their own actions. It is to assume one of two things: Either that Gazans are too stupid to oust the cancerous Hamas presence in their midst, or that they are unable to do so.

Just as a crying baby who only elicits pity will continue to cry, the citizens of Gaza will continue to cry out to the world instead of taking matters into their own hands. As long as they are told that they are helpless victims or mere pawns at the hands of terrorists, Gazans will only see their suffering prolonged.

The residents of Gaza, and the Palestinians as a whole, say they would like their own state. Yet such state must be earned. And earning a state - a piece of land to call your own - takes much more than incessant whining to the international community coupled with a desire to drive out the Jews. It requires inner strength and the ability to create rather than destroy. This is what Israelis proved time and again for over 60 years, and this is what Palestinians have yet to prove.

Yet before the people of Gaza are able to build, Hamas must be obliterated. Moreover, Hamas' ultimate defeat must not be at the hands of the IDF, but rather, it is an endeavor that must be undertaken by Gaza residents themselves. After all, Hamas is the true reason for their misery.

Those who believe that Gazans are capable of this should do away with their pity. As to those who do not believe Gazans can do it - why waste time pitying them in the first place?

Adi Dvir is a Ynetnews editor

Strunz and Farah at the Granada Theater, Dallas TX

2009-01-03T02:12:00.000-08:00

An excellent performance from their recent concert in November.

Underneath it all.

2009-01-02T14:53:00.000-08:00

The simple and shocking truth behind the intense over attention on the middle east is this: Any opportunity to hate Jews will be exploited by those who hate Jews. There are innumerable wars and conflicts in the world every day. They can be read about and seen and are easily accessible. This does not take into account those killed by crime in their own communities worldwide.
The over focus on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is heightened by the irrational and latent anti-Semitism of those who refuse to recognize the difference between good and evil. They are in fact a participant in that same evil, of course. Happily this is not the case with the overwhelming majority of United States citizens who have not wavered in their unequivocal support of Israel. Statistics continue to show an 80% approval rating from Americans towards Israel. Thank God almighty that we do not live in Europe, where anti-Semitism was born and solicited to the Arab world, also brought along by the late motor baron Ford himself. Living is Los Angeles, I continue to see the degree of virulent hatred of Jews everywhere around me. One simply need read the comments section on this same issue in the toilet paper known as the LA Times. Thank God for Israel.

To "Deceive"

2008-12-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

Olmert met with his top security officers that day and approved a major offensive. The decision was kept secret, officials said Saturday, TO DECEIVE HAMAS. Israeli news reports said the Cabinet would wait until its weekly meeting today to discuss a possible Gaza operation. On Friday, Israel opened Gaza's border crossing for a few hours, easing the blockade to let in food and humanitarian supplies.

(Just like the six day war, Israel and by proxy all Jews are sneaky and deceptive. They hide things and cannot be trusted. The double standard is that whereas in war strategy and surprise are advantages to be sought, in the hands of the Jews they are insidious and reptilian.)

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Notice the use of the word "slightly".

2008-12-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

Last week, after the six-month truce lapsed, Hamas stepped up its attacks, launching more than 50 rockets and mortar shells Wednesday and hitting Israeli communities SLIGHTLY beyond the rockets' normal 6-mile range.

(The nomenclature is manipulated. The subliminal suggestion is that Israeli communities were hit LIGHTLY. It is a clever and evil anti-Semitic play on words to suggest Israeli exaggeration of attacks on its citizens.)

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Crude and Rude

2008-12-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

(More from the same article):

Israel had withdrawn its troops and settlers from the coastal strip in 2005, only to see its border communities come under frequent attacks with CRUDE (caps mine) rockets fired by Hamas and smaller Palestinian groups.

(Another suggestion that the arsenal being "lobbed" at Israeli settlers is essentially useless and collateral damage minimal, as well as being waged by teeny tiny Hamas wimps and old men. The basic assertion is that Jewish life is essentially being interrupted and not threatened. This position is anti-Semitic. It paints Israel as a "bully" and ignores the cynical use of civilians by Hamas as human shields.)

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Scurrulous intimations by the Times

2008-12-28T11:52:00.000-08:00

(The following is an excerpt from the Los Angeles Times coverage of the recent Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza:)

Rocket fire from Gaza had become an issue in the Feb. 10 election to choose a successor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is stepping down amid corruption charges. Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni,BOTH VYING FOR THE JOB (capitalization mine), had been on the defensive as the more hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads them in recent polls, called for strong action against Hamas.

(What is being suggested here is grotesque. The Times is insinuating that Ehud Barak launched this attack for purely political reasons and to gain an advantage over Netanyahu for the Prime Minister post. This is reprehensible beyond measure and once again solidifies the Los Angeles Times as an Anti-Semitic puppet of pro-Palestinian agendas. Journalists Bordreaux and Rushdi Abu Alouf do not strike me as being Jewish.)

Peace in the Middle East. Jewish blood is not cheap.

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ATTN: MICHAEL PASCOE

2008-12-16T14:02:00.001-08:00

PLEASE CALL ANTHONY FORKUSH AT ONCE. HE WANTS TO COME TO LAS VEGAS FOR THE WEEK OF CHRISTMAS, THAT IS THE 21ST THRU THE 26TH. HE WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU ARE IN TOWN THAT WEEK. PLEASE CALL. THANK YOU.

THE MANAGEMENT.

Christmas present to the Goldmans and Browns

2008-12-05T11:04:00.001-08:00

O.J. Simpson sentenced to 16 years in prison

2008-12-05T10:53:00.001-08:00

This story was sent to you by: Tony Forkush

--------------------
O.J. Simpson sentenced to 16 years in prison
--------------------

In Las Vegas, Judge Jackie Glass sends Simpson to prison for kidnapping and armed robbery. The former football star, who made a tearful plea for leniency, will be eligible for parole in nine years.

By Ashley Powers and Harriet Ryan

December 5 2008, 10:41 AM PST

Reporting from Los Angeles and Las Vegas — Despite a tearful plea for leniency from O.J. Simpson, a Las Vegas judge today sentenced him to 16 years in prison for the kidnapping and robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oj-simpson6-2008dec06,0,6765346.story

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

Rest easy my friend

2008-12-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my dear friend and mentor Guillermo Leon passed away in Mexico City. His death was as shocking as it was sudden. Words cannot express my sadness over his passing. At the same time, I am left with feelings of such deep appreciation and gratitude that my own small mind, the one I equate with "Me", even IT understands how big our true nature is. What I learned from Guillermo will never leave me. Most of all, he taught me the nature of joy and what he coined "Rule #62: Never take yourself too seriously.

His death is an enormous loss for all of us, but a tremendous gift to the angels.

Hasta Luego mi Amigo.

D-E-S-P-A-I-R

2008-12-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

Monday morning. Back to the deadening. Hackles raised. Paranoia.
Wellbutrin works only so well. The rest is up to you know who, better known as you know how. Big sigh. Lots of noise and aggression. One small idea, watered with unresolved grief, tears my world of neurotransmitters into shreds.

This too shall pass.

So they say.

Will you be gobbling the gobbledy gobble?

2008-11-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

Have a happy, happy Thanksgiving everyone! And don't let the LTryptophan hit you in the ass on the way out.

Tony

He will destroy us!!!

2008-11-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

Found this little ditty in the Hollywood High School library where I am cataloguing the entire fiction section. Highly inspirational.

A town without pity

2008-11-24T11:47:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure why this past weekend there was so much brutality and madness in my neighborhood. Poor old Hollyweird. Its getting a bad name for itself.

On Friday night in Silverlake, an estranged husband came to his house demanding to see his children, in violation of a restraining order. The woman called 911 and the police came but the husband had fled the scene. There was an APB out for the guy, but during the time the police were looking for him, he came back to the house, killed his two children, injured his wife, and then turned the gun on himself. This happened about a mile from me.

On Sunday afternoon, a disgruntled ex church of Scientology member from Oregon brandished two five foot Samurai swords in the garden at the Celebrity Centre off of Franklin and Bronson. Two security guards blew him away defending themselves. The police have no idea why Mario Majorski, 48 years old, came all that way to do such a thing. Clearly they haven't read Kafka. This happened less than a half mile from my apartment.

Also on Sunday, later, a man in an SUV had words with a pedestrian in the crosswalk at Wilcox and Schraeder, right in front of the Hollywood/Wilshire YMCA. The man in the SUV got out, kicked and beat the pedestrian (who may or may not have deserved it). He then got back into his SUV and ran over the pedestrian in the crosswalk killing him instantly. He has still not been caught. This happened a mere two blocks from where I work at Hollywood High School.

Bottom line here folks? Watch your backs, they're getting closer

Camp Midnight videos on my YouTube channel.

2008-11-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

Check out the whole series of clips at www.youtube.com/Vashkan.

Mama, could I have ever been that thin?

A response to the Mindwalk dialogue of my dear friends

2008-11-16T13:11:00.001-08:00

New greeting, same as the old greeting

2008-11-16T12:53:00.001-08:00

Holocaust's unholy hold

2008-11-16T12:31:00.001-08:00

This story was sent to you by: tforkush@juno.com

This is one of the most accurate depictions of the modern crisis in Jewish identity I have ever read. My more militant Jewish friends (yes, I am a peacenik in the year of Obama) are freaking out over this article. The most frightening choice we as Jews can make, and ironically the most liberating an

--------------------
Holocaust's unholy hold
--------------------

The deeper we are stuck in our Auschwitz past, the more difficult it becomes to be free of it.

By Avraham Burg

November 16 2008

Reporting from Nataf, Israel — Even today, when economic storms are shaking markets around the world, posing a threat to the stability of entire countries and societies, Israel continues to conduct its business far from the turmoil, as if swimming in a private ocean of its own. True, the headlines are alerting the public here about the crisis, and the politicians are hastily recalculating their budgets. But none of this is dramatically changing the way we think about ourselves.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-burg16-2008nov16,0,4227786.story

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

Our lady of the Gibbous moon.

2008-11-13T08:48:00.001-08:00

This was what I woke up to this morning. Her majesty in the sky illuminating my prayers. She's a beauty, eh?

Fight or flight the ism.

2008-11-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

Reminds me of the Talking Heads song: "mmh...ism".

Now that the political season is wan, I can finally get back to the original intention of this forum. Which is? Or should I say, which ism?

After roughly four years of posts, the question remains: have I, indeed, stopped the noise in my head? Have "I", whomever that I is, found a way to stop the mind from using me and begun to use my mind? Has there been significant progress on the way to stopping this noise in my head? Have I organically stopped this noise in my head without drugs and alcohol or other numbing agents or activities? In other words, have I begun to live life on life's terms?

Everyone needs to take stock of their progress from time to time. Rarely have I actually investigated if the reason for this blogs existence has justified the means. I think it is time for a little inventory.

When I began this blog, I had no clear concept of what I was aiming for, no context other than attempting to come to terms with a curative for a suffocating condition that had followed me all my life. This mental volume had been turned down to a reasonable level by abstaining from self perpetuating and self regulating belief systems via anti-depressant technology, psychotherapy, and twelve step recovery groups, all of which continued to improve the intra-cranial sound level along with books, records and tapes, and meditative techniques taught in the near and not so near East.

After meditating further on this question, I experienced the following:

There is no substitute for the self. Nothing can fill the void but the self. There is no hope for silence and peace except the self. Accept the self. It is the only way to turn off this noise in my head, which is the noise of the world. The world is temporary and will pass away. The self is eternal. The self is love. The noise is seeing others as having what I think will make me happy and whole. The self IS happy and whole now. I have everything I need at this moment to turn down the volume. Being with the self is the end point of the journey that starts from the only place it can start from, right here and right now. This is surrender. This is letting go and letting God. Wear a rubber band and snap yourself to attention. Don't stop daydreaming, start now-dreaming. The Ego doesn't stand a chance against the nature of your presence. Talk to God. Eat at Joes.

The last part I didn't fully comprehend. But I have directory assistance and its just a whisper away.

"Hi girls".

2008-11-07T19:47:00.001-08:00

My 30 year high school reunion photo taken directly from the website (note the "proof only" tag at the bottom). I decided to go with the Serpico look minus the Al Pacino. Hey, who put that stuffing inside my coat. Mama Mia! That's a spicy meatball (or two).

And love will bring me home

2008-11-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the last time I was this enraged over an issue. I will not be protesting in person for personal reasons. I will be helping in the cause by posting on my blog and openly protesting in other, quieter ways. I send my thoughts and prayers and gratitude to all of you who are mobilizing right now. This is not a gay/straight issue in my mind. This is an issue about the politics of love over the politics of hate and division. This is also about growing up.
I am personally outraged beyond words, yet incredibly grateful, that those who would seek to stop love are being exposed for who they really are. This can only help them as well, in that the denial which continues to have a stranglehold on an entire people, may finally liberate them.
Make no mistake, however: Love demands service as the ultimate priority. Intolerance will be stopped as history has shown us. Need I tell you that. I pray for those who seek to stop it that, in the long run, they do not destroy us first. There are grave consequences for hatred, in whatever form and propriety it may wear.
We know who you are. You cannot win. You can only hope to stall love and then the dam will break, flooding the world with light and beauty and gorgeousness covering everything in its path in truth.
Those who seek to stop it will either sink or swim with us. Pray that you do not drown. Read your own good book. Pay heed my friends. It is already done. What an opportunity to look to yourselves, remove the shackles from your feet, and finally, truly be free.

NO ON PROPOSITION 8! NO TO THE POLITICS OF HATE!
YES TO LOVE!