The NFL is a Hypocrite

I'm furious. The NFL has been going on this "safety of the players/player image" sabbatical, fining and suspending players all over the league for their violent hits/extracurricular activities. They suspended Ben Roethelisburgr (I probably spelled that wrong) for 4 games for being accused of something.

Over the weekend, Andre Johnson and Cortland Finnegan brawled on the field. And I don't just mean during the play. They went above and beyond. They were kicked out of the game and following that fined $25,000.

No suspension.

I wasn't really furious until I heard the reasoning behind why they did not suspend Johnson; while watching SportsCenter this evening, Adam Schefter said that the NFL did not want to suspend Andre Johnson because it would put the Texans at a serious disadvantage playing on Thursday against the Eagles on the NFL Network.

What the hell is that? Really. They didn't suspend them because they were worried about the team's next game? Did they think about that when they suspended Big Ben? Or any of the other players? When did the NFL give a damn about a team over the league's image?

Fighting cannot be tolerated on the field. Fining them for 25k really isn't anything when these players make several million a year. By not suspending them they are proving they are hypocrites. They blow all this smoke about protecting players heads from concussions and Andre Johnson punches a player in the head twice without his helmet on. How are they really doing in protecting players if they don't suspend them for this?

To add to the hypocrisy and proving the NFL is a bunch of money hungry bastards, the game this week is on the NFL Network, which is (conveniently) owned, operated, and the profits go to the NFL. The game they are showcasing would look much worse if one opposing team didn't have it's top weapon, right? Which means the NFL would lose money. Why would they ever want to do that? What's more important; making a couple extra million or telling their players (role models) that you can get away with fist fights on the NFL field on national television?

Maybe I'm just wound up because this upcoming game is against my Eagles and it doesn't seem fair.

The NFL is telling the world they care more about the money than doing what's right. They want to talk about doing the right thing, but hope they can get away with turning a blind eye to the right thing.

I'm going back to hockey.

The Star Wars Condundrum

I have to preface this by saying I grew up a huge Star Wars nerd. I'm not embarrassed to admit it. It used to be my world. I played the video games and read the books and used to have all of these toys. If I could I would be a Jedi. I know I'm not alone in this - in fact I'm probably in some kind of a majority for young boys growing up in the 90s. I grew up a little bit (read: not too much) and don't watch Star Wars everyday like I did when I was seven, and I don't think about it everyday like I did when I was seven, but when people talk about it, I usually - quickly - transform back to the seven year old. I probably knew more about the Star Wars universe than I did about America's history. Again, I've grown up a little bit since then. Now I obsess over TV shows and sports.

Anyways, this isn't about my Star Wars knowledge - although I guess it fueled this conversation - but more about the series new place in movie/Hollywood/sci-fi lore now that the new movies have been out for over five years now.

I don't really know anyone that liked the "new trilogy" - because it was so radically different than the original. The acting was terrible, the special effects were too much, everything felt rushed. The only thing that people could say - as hardcore fans - was that they appreciated the story of Anakin becoming Vader. But I was thinking about it from a kid standpoint, like when I saw the originals when I was young, and what will they think? Because after all, it's always about the kids.

They can't possibly understand. The new three have all of these special effects and CGI and seem so bad ass, while the originals are so simple and just straight up look different (and by different I mean worse.) They can't understand why Yoda is moving around and kicking ass in the first three and then in the last three he can barely walk; why the clone troopers look so much cooler/effective/stronger/intelligent than the stormtroopers, any of it. It doesn't make any sense. Is my kid going to love Star Wars as much as I did? Or is s/he going to want to be a wizard of Harry Potter's world (ps the new movie sucked)? It's not up to me, but I'm just curious on what will be the future for the next generation of youth.

I almost think that it will change the legacy of the movies because they look so different. And the thing to blame I think is CGI - it gave Lucas too much freedom to do what he thought in his head. It's not a terrible idea to be constricted to the 80s special effects - which I really never thought were THAT bad. I've seen bits and pieces of all six movies on SpikeTV this long weekend, and I actually really liked the originals effects with space flying etc. I haven't seen the films for at least a year, so I realized some problems that I must have missed (like how come the lightsaber doesn't destroy everything it touches? Sometimes, it didn't. Puzzling) but I see now.

I'm not sure if I'm losing my childhood innocence/imagination but the original stories don't really make sense. It's almost like George Lucas made them up as he went along. The whole Vader being their father? Luke and Leia were into each other, and then they find out their twins? Building a second Death Star? All seems kind of crazy.

Either way, what's done is done. They had to make the prequels because people were clamoring for them. It would of been better if they made them about 20 years earlier, but that wasn't up to me.

I still really love the films. I can't say they're my favorite anymore - I think I lost my passion for films when I started watching good TV shows and our ADHD continues to cripple us so that we really are unable to sit and watch without multitasking or talking or doing something else that takes our attention away from whatever we were planning on doing.

The films are still classics. They continue to be a part of pop culture, as people reference and quote etc. about them. Everyone knows who Darth Vader is. They always will. It may not be on the tip of their tongues or something they think about ever, but they know.

To close, I wanted to put up my favorite image from the series - the twin sunset on Tatooine. It may or may not have been my background on my desktop for a while....

May The Force Be With You.

The Genius of Larry David

This post can't even begin to do justice to Larry, but I'm going to try.

I'm a huge Seinfeld fan. I used to watch three episodes a day when it was on TBS and Fox. I've seen every episode and can usually tell the episode within a line.

I think I'm an even bigger Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, because it gives the Seinfeld fan in me insight into how the series was made, and the basis of George Costanza, which of course is Larry David.

Larry is an interesting guy. He doesn't like how society operates - in fact he's got plenty of problems with how "we do things". He's a smart ass. He plays with a huge system - broadcast television - and created a show that was literally about nothing. A billion dollar industry is turned on its head by such a backwards concept that only a twisted mind like David could conjure it up, pitch it, and see it become the most successful sitcom in television's short history.

Larry's perspective of the world is interesting - it's what we should think, but instead we've told ourselves to think otherwise. For example (which could be one of many) - The doctor sign in sheet. It's something everyone does when we get to the doctor's office, and usually don't think twice about it. Larry hates this idea for a few reasons; people seeing his name listed, and for the pecking order - why schedule an appointment if your order goes based on when you sign in?

Such simple concepts like that irk Larry (I just used the word irk). It makes sense when you think about it. But we don't. We go along and don't ask questions. It's these type of thoughts that put him into trouble on the show - and put George in trouble on Seinfeld. It's surprising how much real-life instances that happened to Larry inspired the George story lines.

I've obviously never met Larry, but there's a part of me that thinks his self portrayal on Curb is pretty accurate to how he acts in real life. He may not always find himself in situations where he is getting yelled at by everyone, but he has some kind of a problem with everything that goes on. He'd rather not comment on things because it gets him in trouble, but chooses to anyway.

I thought of Larry when I wrote my post about tips. It's very Larry-esque. He's talked about it on Curb - how much to tip, to leave the same tip, were they worth the tip, etc. These are all things Larry would talk about, get caught up in, and it would bother him for the rest of the day.

The funny thing is the Seinfeld curse. Aside from Julia Louis-Dreyfus' recent success with that show I've never watched, none of four have been successful at another show. Larry David is the most successful person coming out of Seinfeld. Curb is really just Seinfeld without the national TV boundaries. No holdback from the FCC about language or content. Part of the genius of Seinfeld was them playing around with words and using innuendo to reference what they couldn't say. Larry comes straight out and says it - which makes it even more hysterical.

It's weird, because when I talk about my favorite TV shows, Curb and Seinfeld don't usually come to mind - mainly because it's something you don't get invested into like The Wire, Lost, Dexter, Mad Men, etc. The comedies are simple and you can watch one episode at a random time and still enjoy it. I think most comedies suck - that's why I don't watch them. In fact, outside of Larry's brainchildren, the only other two I watch are Eastbound & Down and It's Always Sunny. All the rest are lame.

Anyways, I'm starting to ramble, but my point is, I think Larry David, to sum it up in his own words, is pretty good.

Pret-tay, pret-tay, pre-tay, pretty good.

My Favorite Non-Traditional Christmas Music

Okay, so now that Thanksgiving is over it's the official start of Christmas music. Some radio stations (like B101 in Philly) start it after Halloween. I think that's absurd. Cut us some slack. These songs are fun, but only for so long. I used to HATE the idea of Holiday albums, because I thought it was just your favorite artist trying to milk you for more money during the holidays. Most of the time the songs aren't original, just the typical run of the mill Christmas song.

Anyway, these are my favorite Christmas songs that are "outside the norm" - except for a few "norms" that I love. I don't know why I'm writing this post. Enjoy?

1) Merry Christmas Happy Holiday - NSYNC

Well, this might be the norm these days. But who doesn't LOVE this song? The whole holiday album is awesome, but this song is clearly the best. Is it possible that this album will be their longest lasting? Since they don't seem keen on the comeback that BSB (which isn't really a comeback) and NKOTB are doing, this might be their biggest contribution. Every now and then I get my boy band fix, but to me this is the most frequent NSync song. My biggest problem is that the radios seem to cut out the bridge part (the part where the background chorus is clapping). How can you bastardize a song like that? Radio pisses me off enough just for cutting out Lil' Wayne's part in every song he's featured in. Okay, well that sidetracked.

2) I Won't Be Home For Christmas - Blink-182
This song is so ridiculous, but if your a Blink fan (or nut like I am) how could you hate it? Also add in Blink's "Happy Holiday's You Bastard" which is even more stupid, but it mentions Christmas, so it counts. They're idiots hahah.

3) Great White Sled & Don't Shoot Me Santa - Killers

4) The theme from Merry Christmas Charlie Brown
I don't know why this song isn't more popular. It's a classic. It's no words and just such a soothing sound, it's like a Christmas Eve Hot Chocolate song. I don't really know what that means. I'm losing my mind.

5) I want an Alien for Christmas - Fountains of Wayne

I really lost my mind.

6) All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

Any guy who says they hate this song is a liar. I used to get depressed listening to this song, now I'm just happy. It's just a festive (almost wrote Festivus) little tune that would probably sound a lot better if I was one of those "in love" people. But I'm alright where I am. And I know that's not the album cover, I just wanted an attractive looking picture of her. Sorry. At least it's Santa related?

7) The Transiberian Orchestra - The Holiday Album

I honestly have been a bad person and know NOTHING about this band except their holiday music. Do they do normal music? I know I sound like an idiot - whatever. Obviously "Carol Of The Bells" is their best, but the songs are great. Do they even have an album? I don't know. I sound like an idiot. Next please (Josh)

8) Ho Ho Ho And A Bottle of Rhum
There's debate over weather it's Rum or Rhum. iTunes says Rhum. So it's not a typo. This song really isn't really related to Christmas at all, but I love Jimmy, so it was a slam dunk.

9) Last Christmas - Taylor Swift
Well, that's really just because Taylor Swift is awesome. Did you hear that Colin? Do you still read this Colin? "you know Colin"

10) Santa Claus is Comin' To Town - Bruce Springsteen
You didn't expect me to write a post about music and avoid Bruce, did you? Child Please. This song is classic and I think has replaced the typical "Santa Claus is Comin to Town" version. I don't even know what that is. In doing the YouTube search, the first result is Mariah, and the rest are Bruce. Maybe he wrote it, who knows. Either way, Big Man kills it with the vocals and the horn. Love it.

RIP Philadelphia Spectrum

Today marks the day that the Spectrum will fall. After over 40 years of service to the Philadelphia area, the building that housed Dr. J, The Broad Street Bullies, and many other historical events, will be torn down in favor of "Philly Live" (which I will forever call "Philly Fail").

I can't say that I have such significant memories of the Spectrum as hardcore Philadelphians - mainly because the building was only functional for my first 8 years of life - so I'm allowed a reprieve. HOWEVER, The Spectrum is where I saw my first professional hockey game, saw several Phantoms games, saw Green Day and I really appreciated the old-school feel of the building. All the new arenas are so much more corporate don't feel like a sporting event so much as a hang out. The old arenas were so much smaller and the fans were really on top of the players - the sound in a building like that was truly deafening.

It was one of the first areans to be multipurpose for basketball and hockey, and to have a functional video screen and scoreboard overhead.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Pat Wentling post without mentioning the Bruce Springsteen connection; this was the first big stage for Bruce and the E Streeters. Being from nearby Jersey, Philly was like a second home, and Bruce never forgot that. Before the Spectrum's closing, Bruce played 6 more concerts there - rather than the larger capacity Philly Center - to honor the roots that helped him grow. And the shows were legendary - playing songs that he hasn't played in decades.

In the Wells Fargo Center (I hate that name by the way, it's only changed like 25 times in 14 years) they have a banner honoring the amount of sell-outs that Bruce has had in Philadelphia. After his most recent tour, he's up to 51 consecutive sell-outs between the two arenas - most of them at the Spectrum. It might be my favorite banner in the arena - until the Flyers win the Cup in my lifetime.

Anyways, this isn't totally about Bruce's relation to the Spectrum, it's about the building itself. Comcast Spectacor is tearing it down in favor of a hotel and a few hotels, restaurants, and shops. I don't know anyone in favor of what they are doing, it's just another opportunity for Comcast to make more money - but I do know that the Spectrum cannot stand forever. Eventually the building will deteriorate and it must come down. The reasoning behind tearing it down now is what bothers me. We'll never see an arena like it again, because the current arenas are made to maximze revenue, not about the best-possible fan experience. It's a sad day for the true sports fans in Philadelphia.

To close, I'll end with a (surprise) Springsteen song. Written specifically for the two stadiums that helped boost his career yet were being torn down within the year (Spectrum and Giants Stadium. The song is aptly called Wrecking Ball. You can watch the recording here - obviously a YouTube from his Spectrum show.

Bring on your Wrecking Ball.

This photo was taken Novemeber 22nd, the last night the Spectrum stood.

The 28th Amendment: Prohibition on Four Loko

The internet (and my college friends) has been in uproar this week as Four Loko is being banned (or petitioned to be banned) across the country. People are mourning this huge loss. This transition has happened literally in a flash.

The government is concerned because people are dying/being hospitalized by consuming the drink, which is being compared to "liquid cocaine" and "blackout in a can" because of it's 12% alcohol content and relative cheapness ($2/3 bucks a can).

I don't mean to be insensitive to the people/families who have been casualties of the drink, but I don't understand how this makes sense from a legal standpoint. It's prohibition. (note: this is fully the Boardwalk Empire influence in me) There is no rule on what type of alcohol can be sold, mixed with what, in what content, etc. Selling Four Loko is no different than selling Red Bull and Vodka, the latter just can't be bought directly - yet. Are they going to stop the sale of Red Bull and Vodkas in bars? Are they going to ban Red Bull all together for the fear of people combining it with Vodka?

It's even more confusing because of the "dangers" of caffeine combined with alcohol. The FDA - the government regulated agency in charge of the food and drugs served in our country - didn't have a problem with it until people were dying. It seems a little twisted. Four Loko is now going to be re-made without the caffeine, which should hopefully calm down the critics. I'm not a caffeine addict - I only drink soda as a mixer and avoid coffee at all costs - so I don't even care the lack of it - but will it make a difference in the product?

People are dying/being hospitalized by drinking Loko. They could still drink any liquor/beer/wine/whatever and be just as damaged. Albeit they need to drink more of the other items listed. I think this says more than just "Loko is killing kids." It's about alcohol responsibility. Maybe the government should take a more proactive role in actually teaching how to drink responsibly. I'm not talking about the D.A.R.E. crap, I mean honest (read: "real talk") open conversation about limits and differences between the various options.

In college, I felt like every September I would see so many ambulances late on a Friday or Saturday night, and around a college campus, it's pretty obvious that it was related to drinking. Freshman don't really know their limits because no one taught them. They're technically not able to drink by law, but it's 99% positive that they are doing it anyway. So why not give them an understanding that you shouldn't drink this much or that much. And I'm talking about a real conversation, not a "It's bad to drink, because it's illegal!" pep talk. It needs to be acknowledged as a real entity and so kids really get it. Scruff McGruff isn't gonna cut it here. It's like the sex-ed conversations - abstinence sounds good, but it's not realistic (especially when combined with alcohol) so let's actually teach and help prevent this.

[I'm debating going on to a 21-to-drink soap box, but I'll let it slide. Let's just say my first sentence was going to be: young people like drinking because it's illegal until they are 21.]

To me, banning Four Loko is illegal. It wasn't "unsafe" for a few years, but now that it's popularity has risen, people are in a literal uproar. It's their choice to or not to drink it. I personally have had it, and based on the night I had, will not drink it again. That's my choice. The whole point of our supposed "freedom" is that we have the choice to drink Four Loko or have a beer or drink no alcohol at all. It's our choice.

Going loco over the loko.

Rant against Dancing With The Stars

I've kept to myself over the past couple of years, but last night I hit the final straw. Last night in Philly, the Philadelphia Eagles were on Monday Night Football, which is on ESPN. In local markets, the game is broadcasted on their ABC affiliate so it can be seen in the area.

Except instead, local ABC punted the Eagles game to PHL17, which is the former WB which, in reality, is like the bastard child between the big three and Fox. NBC does their news. I don't even know anything worthwhile on this station except Entourage repeats.

Anyway, ABC moved the Eagles game in favor of the continually popular Dancing With The Stars.

Take two minutes to let it sink in. I'll wait.

................................................................................................

Anyone else laugh or can't believe it? Believe it.

Look, I know not EVERYONE is a sports nut like I am. It's a shame, but that's what makes our country great. But to bump a LOCAL game for a national show? Really? Why not bump DWTS to the other station? No? Too much sense?

So then it got me thinking, WHAT exactly is the craze over DWTS? Cause I've never watched an episode. I also hate dancing unless I've had several strong cocktails or I'm at a Bruce Springsteen concert. All other circumstances, I'm just relaxing.

I don't really watch any of these contestant "you vote who wins!" deal following the American Idol format, because I don't care. The shows drag on with those stupid segments and try to create drama out of nothing. Who cares? And they do these shows so often, why should I continue to care who wins this year vs last year? I hate it. Too much time wasted on nonsense that I can't will myself to watch/care/listen to someone who cares.

These shows are successful because they're so simple & cheap to produce. It's not like if you missed last weeks episode you are entirely lost. It gives people a sense of purpose because they "somewhat" control the outcome - if they count every vote. I'm skeptical on that too. But they're everywhere. I don't even know all of them, but show like Idol, DWTS, ABDC, America's Got Talent, all that stuff. Annoys me.

It strikes me as how simplistic our country is. We don't want to wrap ourselves into a serious show (like an Arrested Development or those two shows critically acclaimed this year but were canceled before episode 3 and I have since forgotten their names) and we'd rather oogle over D-list stars and see if they can dance. It actually is hurting my head thinking about it. And it's still the top rated show with nearly 20 million an episode. That's why ABC Philly didn't pass it along - they wanted the ratings. Although you'd think - in a strong football town - that the Eagles would get better ratings than the D-Listers. (even if they were A-Listers, I don't care. It could be George Clooney and Angelina Jolie, I'll watch The Wire reruns)

I don't want to be too harsh because I have close friends who I know love the show, but to me, I can't watch. It's too weak. There's no real storyline or plot or anything that I could remotely care about for all of these "voting" shows. It saddens me that a large portion of our country is so obsessed.

Let's aim higher people.

MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY

Kanye's new album leaked on the Internet this week. I tried really hard to avoid it at all costs. But I gave in. It's been a long two years for Mr. West to come out with a new album, and I'm easily tempted. Sorry Yeezy.

There's still a good chance that I'll buy the album, because it's fantastic. It's unlike anything I've heard in a while from a "rap" guy. I should preface that I don't know all that much about rap, so my opinion should be takend with that in mind.

The thing I find so interesting is that all the songs sound so different. It's not like your typical record. Some have the auto-tune and some have more guests rapping than Kanye does. It's been a interesting couple of years for Kanye as he's had more and more events that seem to go against him:

-Taylor Swift.

-South Park/Fishsticks episode.

-His mother's passing.

-Anything he says is questioned/criticized/studied by academics/conversation.

-His random Twitter outbursts that make him look more tortured/bipolar than anything else.

-The whole George W. Bush claim of Kanye's racist comment was the worst moment of his Presidency. (HUGE SIDENOTE: I could think of probably seven WORSE things that happened during his Presidency. Should I name them? Sure. 9/11. Katrina. Causing the econmoic crisis that has caused so many people to lose money and their jobs. "Mission Accomplished." Weapons of Mass Destruction. Dick Cheney shooting someone in the face. The axis of evil. If I were W., I'd be more mad at Will Ferrell's INTENTIONAL representation of him as an idiot, as opposed to Kanye's rage of emotion for one single moment.)

The point is that he's been through a ton of hard times, even for a rapper. So it got me excited to see how he's channelled his emotions into 13 tracks.

(I've debated how to start this next paragraph for 20 minutes) I'm on the fence about my true "surprise of the album" however, since almost half of his songs were released/leaked early, mainly as part of his "GOOD Friday" campaign - which I think is great for music lovers everywhere. A star at the top of his game and one of the biggest stars on the planet releases a new free song every Friday for 5 months? That's awesome. Yet since some of the songs on his album were part of the Good Friday program, I knew them before they came out.

It's good and bad I guess. Good because who doesn't love new, fresh, good music? But it takes away from the excitement of a new album when you know half the songs well in advance of the album dropping. I think overall I liked the concept, because I'm typically over-critical on new music, so the idea of listening to a brand new album can be pretty overwhelming to me, and I tend to only listen to the hit single(s). So it's good and bad is my final judgement.

Anyways, I'm starting to babble, but Yeezy's new album is fantastic. Listen to it as soon as you can, and I hop you have similiar opinions, because to me, it truly is musical genius.

No one man should have all that power. (I'm a huge dork. Bye.)

Conan's Back

I waited until after episode two to write this, mainly because I wanted to see if it could follow up with a great opener.

If you've been reading my blog since the beginning, then you've read my huge Conan/NBC breakup rant that lead into several long posts. I was furious. Conan's been the only late-night personality I really liked, since Leno and Letterman seemed too professional and corporate. Conan didn't He was crazy and spastic and it was awesome. Conan had to tune it down when he got moved to 11:30, and it wasn't totally the same. NBC is run by morons (even tho Zuckerberg is on his way out finally) and they're in last place behind king of network reality trash Fox.

The whole Conan/NBC breakup must of been humiliating for Conan. He was metaphorically slaughtered in front of national television over several weeks. He stuck to his principles and paid the price for it. NBC put him off for 9 months. While he was in limbo with NBC and still doing shows, it's the funniest he's ever been. Angry Conan was awesome.

While he was off the air, he did a comedy tour and built a huge social media campaign to keep his name out there and his popularity at a continual high. So Conan's finally back. It doesn't really matter what he says or does, it's just nice to have him back. The first few weeks will be all about how everyone supported Conan and he took less money and stupid jokes like that. It's nice to have him back and it's even better that it's on at 11. Makes it more time-friendly for East Coasters who need to be up early for something called work. I don't know anything about that concept, but most people do.

What gets interesting now is how Conan's competing with Leno/Letterman and now Jon Stewart too. I used to love watching Stewart but fell off the wagon before college. And, after the first two shows, Conan is killing everyone. He's got the popularity over the rest of them and the timeslot to win. And I think TBS will do anything they can to keep him content. To NBC he was just one of many, to TBS he's one of one. (I'm not considering George Lopez anything worth anything). TBS might be on a lower budget but they're making network-money off advertising to spend on this show.

I think Conan's on a mission. He's not going to be on a smear campaign for Leno, but he's going to be trying his hardest to beat out everyone. And he's got the platform to succeed. He's basically taken his network show to a basic cable channel on an earlier timeslot. His only real competition to me (and my coveted demographic) is Jon Stewart. My only concern is will I keep watching? Will I be watching in 3 months? Will I care? Will anyone still care? The sparkle of the "Conan's back" routine will fade away, and then he just becomes another talk show. Sure, he's the only one I'd want to watch, but do I really want to watch a talk show at 11? How tired do we get of actors plugging their movies? I bet most people would rather watch Jersey Shore re-runs than hearing what Samuel L. Jackson is up to. So who knows. I predict I'll watch the monologue and then peace out - pending the guests.

Either way, I'm happy that Conan's got his show back, and that he can take out the competition that kicked him out. Any joke regarding NBC makes me burst out laughing. It's great. And seeing the Masturbating Bear? It's always nice to see old friends.

Go CoCo.

Sanity Restored

This is a quick, but serious post. I'm really not into politics - I believe that these people on Capitol Hill just keep arguing back and forth and nothing really gets resolved. It's all a waste of time. The healthcare bill was passed and now it sounds like the Republicans will repeal it. It's all a power struggle that to me seems to go nowhere. Our government also wastes it's time with congressional hearings about steroids in baseball instead of other, possibly more pressing, matters. Like hunger, jobs, safety, terrorism, etc.

Anyways, Jon Stewart hosted his "Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear" campaign last Saturday. I watched some of it. Most of it was too dumb for me to handle. But Stewart's closing speech was a honest commentary on our country's psychological state. There's a transcript here, but I'll paraphrase. Please read the transcript though, as I won't really do it justice.

Basically, everything that we concern ourselves with - the economic/terrorist threats/war/etc - is really self-created. The 24 hour news networks has instilled this fear on each other that nobody's getting jobs and we're all at risk to die from an imminent attack and the stock market hasn't crashed but there is no money anywhere and everyone will get swine flu and cell phones will give you cancer if you hold them to your ear too much. Clearly, I'm a little extreme, but it's to prove a point.

We've created this symptom where we want to be on high alert all the time. Yet at the end of the day, everybody is okay. We all work together - most of us strangers - to succeed in our everyday life. Your happiness shouldn't stem from what goes on in Washington D.C. or what Katie Couric tells you; it still rests in your family, your friends, your everyday life. We need to stop worrying about the nonsense that is (or isn't) going on. Sure, the economy isn't the best, but we got in it together, and we'll get out together. It doesn't really matter our individual beliefs or values, in the end we'll do it together. Somebody will walk all over us and we'll walk all over somebody. It's just the way the world works.

It's amazing what Jon Stewart has been able to achieve. A comedian making fun of the government and the news networks that he mimics, and he's risen as the somewhat voice of reason for our country. Hell, his whole rally is making fun of Glen Beck's rally.

It's refreshing to hear people of power - although no 'governing' power - make actual sense of it all. To stop the noise, take a step back, and really understand what is going on. The sad thing is that it's not so simple. It will take a joint effort, but it can happen. This is the change that we were supposed to get. It's up to us to make it happen.

Change you can believe in.