Katie Couric, Nightly News Badger

Am I the only person who thought Katie Couric might leap across the room and rip Sarah Palin's throat out during the CBS News interview that made the rounds last week? Couric looked seriously infuriated with Palin at a couple of points. Just watch this clip within a clip to see what I mean. Look at the intensity in Katie Couric's eyes.

For Those Wondering Why Zambrano's No-No Wasn't Aired Here

Directed at the Yahoo Message Board users. I wanted to share my knowledge, but I don't want to sign up for a Yahoo account. I hate Yahoo.

I heard about this on the radio yesterday. Because ESPN owns control over Sunday night baseball games and what can be broadcast and what can't be broadcast, WGN had to petition them over the weekend for permission to air the game. They were given permission, but only for WGN local, not for WGN America. Therefore, the live coverage was only shown in the Chicago area that can receive WGN Local. As for Comcast, it was not a Comcast game, and they weren't able to carry it at all. We may get to catch the replay today or tomorrow on Comcast, but who knows?

If you want to blame anyone, blame ESPN.

Lovin' It Up on the SJ-R Website

Police investigating early morning shooting - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register: "He loved over the railing to investigate, at which point he heard a loud pop and then felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder."

I'm assuming "loved" is supposed to be "looked" or maybe even "leaned." "Loved" really can put a whole new spin on this story.

UPDATE: This error was fixed yesterday.

The Lipstick Controversy

Okay, I ordinarily don't get involved in political discussions. I study the political landscape and I form my opinions based on the information at hand, but I don't feel a lot of need to go wrangling other people into submission over my beliefs when, typically, the people in need of wrangling are too stupid to be won over anyway.

But I have to say something about this whole "lipstick on a pig" controversy, and I'd like to start at the beginning. Let's go back to Ms. Sarah Palin's speech at the RNC. As everyone knows, she told a cute little joke that compared hockey moms to pitbulls, citing that the only difference between the two is lipstick. Let me just say that it's not the joke I mind so much. I love a well-crafted joke as much as the next person, and I think Palin's delivery good.

My issue is that Palin draws on the stereotype of pitbulls as being vicious and aggressive. Don't we already have enough media attention slandering this breed of dogs? Do we really need vice-presidential candidates also reaffirming the stereotypes? I happen to own a pit bull (well, she's a mutt, but she's got enough pit bull in her to scare people who believe the stereotypes), and my little Lucy is one of the friendliest, most well-demeanored dogs I've ever met. If hockey moms were all like her, they'd love to sleep the day away, play fetch endlessly with any assorted number of toys lying around the house, and lick their asses . . . a lot. I know other pit bulls, too, who defy the stereotype. I'm a big advocate of "it's the owner, not the breed." Any dog in the hands of certain owners will become aggressive. Lack of socialization, abuse, neglect, and any number of other harmful behaviors on the part of the owner can turn a perfectly good breed into a monster. Just because these same owners also find themselves driven to collect pit bulls is not the fault of the breed. Do we blame good books for attracting so many literary snobs to read and discuss them? My point is, I thought Ms. Palin's joke played on the stereotype of pit bulls as aggressive bullies, and I didn't appreciate it.

Now, onto the "lipstick on a pig" thing. Nothing I've read or seen of Mr. Obama's remarks indicate that he was referring to Ms. Palin as a pig. It's a commonly used expression, and it is an expression Mr. Obama has used before. It's a perfectly good analogy of Mr. McCain's policy initiatives. He wants to change appearances, but he doesn't want to change the content. That's it. If you don't know what "lipstick on a pig" means, it means if you put lipstick on a pig, you make superficial changes, but you still just have a pig underneath. For those of you non-thinking automotons who don't get analogies, there you have it.

Now, I pose a question. Would you rather Mr. Obama used the phrase, "You can't polish a turd."? Would that have made you feel better? The sentiment is still the same. Who would he have been talking about then?

A Thought

I used to not really care that much. But now I feel pretty sure of this one thing. I think the world would be a better place without John Mayer.

I'm Leaving, Folks

Aubrey and I are putting our house on the market next week. As soon as it sells, we'll be moving to Richmond, Virginia. Unfortunately, that means no more Just Two Guys show on Access 4 and, more than likely, no more Just Two Guys blog here in the Springfield blogosphere.

Micah will continue to run the Movie Geeks Club, and he may continue to do a public access show either by himself or with a new co-host. In our divorce agreement, Micah has agreed that I can take the Just Two Guys blog with me, but I likely won't. I have my An Embarrassment of Riches blog, and Aubrey and I are planning to start a blog together to detail our lives in Richmond. The Just Two Guys blog belongs to Just Two Guys. It doesn't belong to me.

"Why Richmond?" you might be asking yourselves. Aubrey and I lived in Richmond, Virginia for four years. We loved it there. We felt more at home there than anywhere we've ever lived. We built a life for ourselves there. We got our master's degrees there, and we set out on great career paths there. Upon moving back here in 2004, we felt a void in our lives that has not gone away. After years of struggling to make this a fit for us, it just doesn't work. We've decided to get back to Richmond. To get back to the things that made us happy. To get back to the things we had been building there for ourselves.

Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed my time here with public access and with you bloggers. But I have not been happy in a more complete sense. We both felt that "going home again" would be good for us, and it just turns out we were wrong. Springfield is a wonderful community, and I want nothing but the best for all of you. It's just not the right fit for me.

The Springfield blogging community has been like a family to me, and I will continue to know you all and to read your blogs daily, as I hope you will continue to read mine.

Many thanks,

John

P.S. I'll continue to post here somewhat sporadically until I leave. And I'll update here as well.

What the hell?

Okay, I've had about enough of this. Where have you gone Anonymous Communist? You haven't posted since May 27, and the Springfield blogosphere feels a giant void.

To Jerry Reed

Many people remember Jerry Reed for his career as an actor (most notably for his role in the Smokey and the Bandit movies), but he was also an incredibly gifted guitarist and songwriter. Jerry Reed has died at the age of 71. Here are a few Youtube clips of Jerry doing what he did best.