That's On Point: The Web Site: John Bullspit

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That's On Point: The Web Site: John Bullspit

That's On Point talks about today's England v. U.S.A. friendly at Wembley. There's some good stuff in there about how U.S. fans continue to fawn over England's football heritage, even though other countries have long since caught up to it and its national teams is perennially underperforming.

I agree. It is a problem. And it's exactly why the U.S. Soccer Federation should be turning in the direction of Latin America, rather than Europe. (Playing in the Copa America last year was a nice step). Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group in America. They love footie. (I seem them every single day in the park in my neighborhood). Why not try to "Latin-ize" the American game with the kind of intensity that players and fans in Mexico and Argentina bring to the sport. For one, you could have started by hiring Jose Pekerman instead of Bob Bradley as U.S. manager.

Approaching the city

Here's a fantastic blog about public transportation, with a little urban planning and politics thrown in. Very nice....

Wolf Blitzer is E.B. Farnum

I've been watching a lot of CNN lately for some reason, and I finally today realized something about everyone's favorite news personality.

Wolf Blitzer is E.B. Farnum, the fictional mayor on HBO's "Deadwood."

Wolf:


and E.B. Farnum:

Jayne Mansfield's death car

Di and I are going to be in Florida this weekend (for a wedding). It's too bad the Tragedy in U.S. History Museum is no longer operating. I would love to see assorted random tchotkes associated with famous deaths.

(Hat tip to Don's blog Driving to Oahu. He mentioned having stumbled upon the museum, in St. Augustine, Fla. 20 years ago.)

Other stuff...

We know Hillary likes her pantsuits, but this is hilarious.

Also, Mrs. T-L posted this today. Yes, it's us on our somewhat recent trip to Charleston and Savannah.

We are the angry mob

We are the angry mob
we read the papers everyday
we like who we like, we hate who we hate
but we're oh so easily swayed

The demented Spartan child

It's been a horrible season for Barcelona. They broke down and humiliated themselves, particularly as Real Madrid found themselves hoisting the hardware.

There has been one bright spot, however, the emerging greatness of Lionel Messi. Here is Phil Ball, the best English-language writer covering La Liga today (I know, I know), eloquently telling us why he named Messi to his Best XI:

Left midfield: Leo Messi (Barcelona)
He was picked for this spot last season, and although it's not strictly his position it's difficult to say exactly what Messi is - a phrase often used to describe the greats. Well - we know he's the best player in the world, with apologies to Ronaldo lovers, but he's not here for that reason. What has been most impressive about Messi this season has been his sheer will to win, his never-say-die attitude and the silent example he has provided to all around him, many of whom have seemed less than committed to the cause. At times he has run down cul-de-sacs, it's true, but only because there has been a lack of intelligent support. He's hardly had a bad game, and even when he came back from a serious injury, he was immediately running at players again like some sort of demented Spartan child, unacquainted with fear. Sorry to mix the metaphors, but he's also worked like a Trojan. Nice little bloke too, modest and without pretensions. You get the impression that he appreciates the privilege of being a professional footballer, particularly after what he went though as a child. He deserved better this season.

Middlebrow horseshit

I've been seriously digging Matt Taibbi's writing lately. Here's his bananas book review of "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman.

Things happen when you wear Eleganza

Eleganza has to be the greatest name for a clothing line I've ever heard. Check out these 1970s fashion ads from Ebony Magazine. It's pimpalicious.

The ghetto formerly known as the suburbs

I'm going keep blogging about this until I'm blue in the fingers... people no longer want to live in the suburbs. The truth is that, due to longer and longer commuting times, higher gas prices and less of a desire for whites to get away from minority neighbors, all the demand growth for housing is currently in cities.

And lo and behold, look at today's U.S. home construction report:

The U.S. Commerce Department is reporting construction rose by 8.2 percent in April, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. However, the growth came from a big jump in apartment construction. Building of single-family homes continued to weaken.

Photoshopping gone horribly wrong

Check out this little Photoshop fuck-up, courtesy of The Problem With Caring, a nifty little blog.

We're falling behind yet again

If I told you that some country was building a "carbon-neutral" city where people rode in solar-powered personal rapid-transit vehicles, turned waste into energy and recycle its water, where would you think this was?

No, not the U.S., silly. We're way behind! How about, of all places, Abu Dhabi.

Get your Democratic Convention Credentials

This is the most awesome thing ever.

(Courtesy of this blogger.)

From the Dept. of Get a Brain Morans

Wright and Obama

I know, I know. You're probably sick of the Rev. Wright fiasco, but my former co-worker Don has a nice little post about it here. (You have to scroll down a bit. For some reason his adsense is in an odd spot, at least on my firefox.)

Die Newspaper. Die Die!!!

Everyone point and laugh at newspapers! Ha ha.

Our cat only kills time (napping)

My wife's family used to have a few outdoor cats when she was growing up. According to her, at least one of them felt he was particularly gifted at killing things and dragging them home to show off to his owners.

Apparently, Jeff has a similar talent, which is why there's a whole blog devoted to What Jeff Killed.