I'm heading down to Ohio today to visit my folks for the weekend.

There better not be any damn snow down in Columbus, that's all I gotta say about this.

I've been pawing through my music library lately, trying to figure out which songs I've never listened to (on my iPod or computer, at least). 10,000 Maniacs is one of those 90s bands that sort of gets lost in the shuffle, and I forgot how much I loved some of their songs. Anyway, I've been listening to "Our Time in Eden" quite a bit over the last few days, so I thought I'd share the Unplugged version of "These Are Days" today. Enjoy!

If they made one of the larger-sized iPods red, I might think about it. But I just have too much damn music. A nano will never cut it for my purposes. Still, these little buggers are tasty:

This picture was taken outside my office today, not in January:



In a word: depressing. Welcome to Michigan.

Glad to read this:

Extras: Where the elite meet to self-depre-keet. (It works with a British accent. Really.) Ricky Gervais, who launched his scathing HBO showbiz satire with cameos by an imperious Ben Stiller and a slatternly Kate Winslet, has now handed the bloody scourge to rock stars. In these previews, Coldplay's Chris Martin plays Coldplay's Chris Martin as a dead-eyed opportunist hawking his greatest hits album at a charity shoot for third-world poverty. ''Let's get on with it,'' snaps Martin (pictured, right, with a bewigged Gervais), ''I've got AIDS and Alzheimer's after this, and Gwyneth’s making drumsticks.''

But that's but sauce to the goose -- the goose, in this case, being David Bowie, Rock Star Cameo extraordinaire. A conversation with Gervais' sad-sack writer/actor, Andy Millman, launches Bowie into reverie. He turns to a Simpsons-convenient piano and begins composing a song called ''Little Fat Man,'' which soon expands into a giant singalong.

Of course, I don't get HBO anymore, so I'll have to wait for it to come out on DVD, but I can't wait to see the second season!

Here's the YouTube preview:

The Onion: George Steinbrenner Fires Tigers
"'The pitching was fantastic, the offense was timely, the defense was flawless… Frankly, it made me sick,' Steinbrenner added."

Freep: MSU down and nearly out
This just in... MSU football still sucks.

The B-52s are still one of the best party bands of all-time. "Love Shack" is the first clip this morning. It came on the radio the other day when Stef and I were driving around town, and it's always still fun to belt it out at the top of your lungs, even after hearing it a million times. The second video also comes from the B-52s "Cosmic Thing" album. As much as I love "Love Shack," I think I'll have to go out on a limb and say that "Roam" is probably my favorite B-52s song. Anyway, hop in my Chrysler, and enjoy the videos!

And I wore my winter coat into work because it was only 33° outside.

Why God? WHY?!

From my dad: "Remember how I said the only thing that could get JLS fired DURING the season would be legal problems/criminal charges against players?" Well, have a look at the latest from the LSJ:

Rick Lambert, an East Lansing resident and software salesman, told the State Journal that his son and a friend - both MSU students - were attacked and beaten Friday morning by four football players. He said both of the students' families have informed police that they will be pressing charges.

The alleged altercation took place near Capstone Commons Apartments in East Lansing, both Johnstone and Lambert confirmed.

Lambert said his son was knocked temporarily unconscious and that the face of his son's friend "looked like a women's basketball, it was so puffed up," after Lambert arrived on the scene about 3 a.m. Friday.

The son's friend received treatment at a local hospital the next day and was released, Lambert said.

"(MSU coach) John L. (Smith) has called both families several times since then," Lambert said. "He has been very nice about the whole thing."

Gee, I'm glad coach Smith has been so nice about the whole thing. Maybe if he had a leash on his players, we wouldn't be reading stories like this. Doesn't anybody remember what happened to Bobby Smith? Methinks the wheels are starting to come off the wagon for John L. Smith.

The last couple weeks went by really fast, but this one is already dragging for some reason. Maybe it's because the weather has taken a turn for the worse. Tomorrow there's – gulp – snow in the forecast. I know. All the leaves on the trees were starting to look really pretty lately, but I think most of them could be down by the end of the week. When I walked out of my apartment this morning, the parking lot was covered, and it was bare last night. Grrrrroan. How many days until spring?

This morning I have a "webinar" at work to learn more about how to make an effective website. I've never done one of these things before, so I'm still a little fuzzy about how the whole thing will go down. It seems straightforward enough, but I just hope I can get some useful information out of it. It's a little hard to gauge what level of instruction we'll be getting. Anyway, the webinar is only scheduled to last for an hour and a half, and then I'm heading out to meet my old man for lunch.

Tonight I'm heading into G4G's campaign headquarters for the third day in a row. Stef went home for the night yesterday, so it just worked out for me to go in there an extra day this week. It'll be nice to come home though this evening and have my girl back at the apartment so we can watch all our Wednesday night shows.

Tomorrow I'm heading out to my dad's house to see the family for dinner, and then Friday I'm hopping in the car to drive down to Ohio. So yeah, the week has already felt long, but it's not going to settle down anytime soon.

I saw Randy Newman on The Colbert Report from Monday night, so I thought it was appropriate to put up some of his tunes this morning. Clip number one is "Political Science," which is apropos for the world we live in today. The second video is for Newman's "Short People," which has to be one of the most hysterical songs ever written. Enjoy!

I wrote this last night on Pohlitics. You can read my minute-by-minute transcript of the debate here. Enjoy!

Is it just me, or did the second debate feel like it went by super fast? Maybe it was because the candidates were constrained by the shorter answers, but the whole thing just seemed to zip by. As a result, it felt like both Granholm and DeVos hurried through their responses and got sidetracked a bit. Of course I'm seriously biased, but it felt like the governor did a better job of staying on track than DeVos, who veered way off topic on numerous occasions.

It seemed like Dick tried a little too hard to make up for his shortcomings in the first debate this evening. People thought he was too genial the first time around, so tonight he came out with the long knives right off the bat, saying the governor "lied to the people of Michigan" during his intro. I mean, the facts prove otherwise, but whether you agree with his characterization of the first debate or not, it just felt like he came out of the gates with the intention of trying to be mean so he could set the tone and try to take control. Something about it just felt very forced and desperate. Granholm was cordial and direct in her introduction, kept her cool, and never let DeVos get to her throughout the hour.

Quite honestly, I didn't care for the questions that were asked tonight. Yes, the economy came up in more detail (which was definitely necessary), but it seemed like the candidates kept getting asked about the way the campaign has been conducted (who lied, how they lied, what they lied about, etc.) I mean, we've all seen the ads, and it seems like a no brainer that both of them would say the other is lying in their commercials. After a while these questions (which already came up in the first debate) just got very repetitive, and were ultimately counterproductive. Look, we all get that politics is dirty business, and it's not that it's not worth debating informally with people you know in everyday life, but come on... during an hour-long statewide gubernatorial debate, it's a waste of time. Still, when these questions came up, I thought Granholm did do a better job of giving a quick response and then moving onto specifics about a topic (like the economy). DeVos came across as whiny and bitter whenever he complained about Granholm's ads attacking him, and could never really stay on the topic at hand. His answers were usually very vague, and never really got to the heart of what he was being asked about.

Dick tried to have his own Alterra moment tonight when he brought up something the governor did (or didn't do... I couldn't figure it out) when she worked for Wayne County. He stumbled over his words as he was trying to bring this up, but it never really went anywhere. I still for the life of me can't figure out what the hell he was trying to nail the governor on. When it was Granholm's turn to respond, she basically ignored whatever he was blathering about, and went on to address the initial topic with specifics. Again, this awkward moment just reeked of desperation on DeVos' part. You gotta think he was pissed after the first debate, since the Alterra story hogged the headlines for several days, and wanted to have his own "gotcha" moment. But that's the problem... he's the one with the shady past, not Granholm, so the stunt went nowhere.

Like I said after the first debate, I think it's silly to declare a winner for something as arbitrary as this, but it seems fair to say that Granholm controlled the argument yet again this evening. The campaign (and the debates) are basically boiling down to this: DeVos bitches about the economy and cites lots of scary statistics that we already know, so Granholm tells us how her plan is the way out of this mess, and how DeVos would just make things worse. Dick's only "qualification" for the job is basically his (Amway) business experience, which Granholm (and Michigan voters) have every right to question.

Bottom line: she has a plan for the state (whether you agree with her or not), and Dick has... more complaints... and some pamphlets he'd like to show you.

I just hope and pray that substance trumps soap fluff this year, since that's all Dick's selling.

Are you mad about the sorry state of Spartan football yet? Go read this article in the Louisville Courier-Journal, written right after the Illinois loss:

Michigan State embarrassed itself four years ago by letting the news leak that it was hiring Smith from U of L on the day the Cardinals played Marshall at the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

All MSU administrators had to do was wait one more day to make the change. Instead, the story leaked its way into the ESPN telecast, and U of L players on the sideline started asking media members if their coach had told Michigan State something he had hidden from them.

Look who's blushing now.

Louisville has better players, better coaching, better discipline and a better grip on the top 10 than it had under Smith. Michigan State, meanwhile, blew a jumbo second-half lead against Notre Dame. Then the Spartans melted down and out against Illinois, prompting Smith to wonder if he had lost the attention of his players.

That contract Michigan State couldn't wait one day for Smith to sign?

I believe it has two years and $3.2 million remaining.

A quick check of the NCAA polls shows that Louisville is #7 across the board. MSU? We're number "who gives a shit?"

This article just puts things into perspective that much more for me.

MSU lost Nick Saban to LSU, where he went on to help the Tigers win a National Championship. A few years later we hired what we thought was an up-and-coming coach, John L. Smith. Turns out we got the expensive figurehead of an up-and-coming program. Louisville continued to improve post-Smith (which proves that there was more to their success than his coaching), while Michigan State has arguably gotten worse.

What do we have to show for hiring John L. Smith? NOTHING.

I know that having $3.2 million left on his contract looks like a lot, but it's time to admit we made a mistake and move on. Yes, it's an expensive mistake, and no, we can't afford to keep making them, but paying off a $3.2 million contract is better than letting the team stagnate for two more seasons. The university will have a hard time paying off that $60 million renovation of Spartan Stadium if fans quit showing up for the games.

There's one last bit of salt to rub salt in the wound, and I might as well throw it out there while I'm at it. My dad and I were talking about MSU's football woes last week, and he gave me Earle Robinson's take on the coaching dilemma. There's a very good chance that George Perles could be an MSU Trustee following next month's election, and one might assume that the board would turn to George to help hand pick Smith's replacement after the season. Do we really want George 'Run Lorenzo White up the middle 100 times a game' Perles choosing our next coach? It's time to start making decisions about John L. Smith now before this thing gets even worse. And yes, it could get a lot worse if George Perles gets involved.

It could be a rough season for the basketball squad, but it can't help but be better than what we've been witnessing on the football field lately. Anyway, mens and womens basketball teams will host their Midnight Madness "Fright Night" this Friday the 13th:

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's and women's basketball teams will hold their annual midnight madness event on Friday night, Oct. 13, in conjunction with the opening of the 2006-07 season. This year's event will be titled "Fright Night," with different events of the evening featuring a Halloween theme. Fans are encouraged to join in the spirit of the event by dressing in their own costumes. Prizes will be awarded for some costumes. Doors to the Breslin Center will open at 9 p.m. Admission is free.

Fans will have the opportunity to get autographs from their favorite men's and women's basketball players along with the coaches beginning at 9 p.m. The evening will also include the introduction of the men's and women's basketball teams, along with scrimmages by both teams. There will also be several promotional giveaways, along with performances by the Spartan Marching Band, Michigan State cheerleaders, MSU dance team and Sparty.

If you're in town, go check it out. Midnight Madness is always a lot of fun.

Go GREEN!

It's been a while since I went down to Columbus to visit my mom and Dan, so I'm driving down to Ohio this weekend. Dan's brother Maynard will be in town at the same time, so it'll be nice to see him too. Not really sure what we'll be doing (I think my mom mentioned going to see a play), but I'm sure we'll have a good time.

Anyway, the plan is to leave at noon on Friday. Gee, I'm glad I'll be in Columbus on the day of the MSU-OSU football game. Normally I support the Buckeyes (primarily because I admire any group of fans that can hate the Wolvereenies more than me), but to be honest... they do have some of the most obnoxious fans on the planet.

Get ready for another massacre, Spartan fans.

For the record, the new Barenaked Ladies album is great. Here they are performing 'Wind it Up' on Conan O'Brien:

I started volunteering for Gov. Granholm's reelection campaign way back at the end of May this spring. Since then I've been trying to go in for at least a couple hours after work, two days a week.

A few times when I was at the campaign HQ I mentioned to Mike, the Volunteer Coordinator, that I still had never met the governor. He kept trying to arrange a quick greeting for me, and while I've seen her in the office several times, it just never worked out for me to say hello... until yesterday.

I was stuffing envelopes in the volunteer room when one of the interns poked her head in to say that the governor was around and might stop by to say hello. Since it was about time for me to take off for the day, I decided not to get my hopes up.

The Governor had been in one of the rooms across the hall preparing to shred Dick DeVos for the second debate, and a few minutes later I heard the door open and could hear her voice out in the hallway. Another volunteer shouted out that there was someone in the room who was dying to meet the governor. I was a little embarrassed since I had just finished eating a handful of peanuts (or, as Mike calls it, my salary), but it was still cool to have the gov pop in to say hello for a minute. She had an armload of binders, but shook my hand and thanked me for volunteering. I told her my name, which she said sounded familiar and then asked if I ever posted on MichiganLiberal. I said I did, and she thanked me again for my contribution. We chatted very briefly for a minute, and I mentioned my dad's name (he works for WKAR radio), which she also recognized. She apologized that it had taken her so long to say hello to me, but I just told her I would rather have her out there doing what she's been doing.

So yes, the rumors are true. The governor is terribly nice and pleasant in person.

Gov. Granholm looked pretty tired and I needed to leave anyway, so I just thanked her for saying hello and ducked out so she could talk with someone else. My two minutes with the governor weren't anything earth-shattering, but it was still cool to finally meet her in person after working on her campaign for all these months. It just made me that much more determined to make sure I do everything I can to help put her over the top on election day.

The new Beck album, "The Information," came out last week. Go read the AV Club's interview with Beck here and then check out their review here. For the record, I still haven't met a Beck CD I didn't like. Some are definitely better than others, but he's been on a roll lately, and I can't wait to check out this latest album.

MEMO TO MY FAVORITE MUSICIANS: Take a page out of Beck's book and put out more CDs, more often, please. Gracias.

Cross-posted on Pohlitics.

DeVos and Bushie: separated at birth...

I don't even know where to begin. That game on Saturday was a sixty minute ass pounding. I never thought I'd say this, but I actually would've rather been at the Tiger's game that day. Sitting ass cheek to ass cheek in a sea of 107,000 obnoxious wolverine fans, watching my beloved Spartans take the beating of a lifetime, was one of the most depressing experiences of my life. To add insult to injury, every Michigan State fan should take a couple minutes and go read this article from Sunday's Ann Arbor News.

This simply isn't a rivalry game anymore -- we're more of a nuisance to them than anything. We haven't beaten the furry rodents from Ann Arbor since 2001's glorious/infamous (depending on your perspective) win at Spartan Stadium. Five years is the longest stretch MSU has gone without a victory against UM since a similar streak ended in 1983. Most of our players weren't even alive back then.

If you couldn't already tell, I'm just a little disillusioned about Michigan State football these days. Like that AA News article pointed out, at least Bobby Williams had some fire in his belly and managed to snag some thrilling wins and a couple bowl game victories for us when he ran the program. If John L. Smith lost his job tomorrow, the only thing anyone would remember about the guy is all his crazy post-game antics. He has accomplished absolutely nothing during his time at Michigan State.

This season is already circling the drain (remember -- #1 Ohio State comes to town on Saturday), and if Ron Mason, Lou Anna Simon, and the MSU board of trustees let Smith keep his job beyond 2006, I think it's safe to say that we can put a giant X through next season as well. Will somebody please put John L. Smith and the rest of the Spartan faithful out of our misery?