On Vacation

Becca and I are heading out tomorrow morning on our summer vacation, during which we’re driving from Philadelphia to Minneapolis, with stops on the way in Cincinnati and Chicago. We’re ending up in the cities next weekend for the wedding of my longtime friend (and frequent commenter here) Jeff S.
This blog will likely not be updated until I return a week from Wednesday, though I may peek in once or twice next weekend. In the meantime, next week’s North Star column, on the first anniversary of Katrina, is online here. Everyone have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend, and I’ll be back September 6.

Friedman, Coen, Bohn

When I was growing up and wanted to be a professional baseball player, my dad always told me that it was fairly unlikely that I, or anyone else I knew from the neighborhood, would ever become a professional athlete. Well my dad was certainly right about me, the neighborhood part has been another matter.
T.J. Bohn, an outfielder who was apparently two years behind me at St. Louis Park High School (though I don’t remember him), was called up by the Seattle Mariners earlier this week and made his major league debut (he was sent back down after five games).
Bohn joins the NHL’s Erik Rasmussen as the only SLP natives playing major-league professional sports. We’re better at producing thinkers, I guess. That, and frontmen from Semisonic.

I Love the Leader

The Twins now lead the AL Wild Card race by a game and a half after defeating the White Sox both Friday and Saturday (Game 3 is this afternoon). It’s looking like a special year.

Eckstein Award Nominee

You’d think someone with the name “Gabe Gross” would be a shoo-in to be Jewish, but you’d think not about the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder. From Bill Simmons on Friday:

“Not to sound like legendary Hollywood producer Bob Ryan, but what if I told you that Gabe Gross uses a Christian song for his at-bat music that includes lyrics like “help me Jesus!” and “Hallelujah!” Is that something you’d be interested in?”

Not to mention, reverse Eckstein points for “Bob Ryan,” Martin Landau’s character on “Entourage.” They couldn’t think of a Jewish name for him?
That Simmons column, by the way, made me extra excited to make the Chicago-to-Minneapolis drive through Wisconsin next week, as part of our road trip. I used to do it a couple times a year, but haven’t since ’99. We’ll have to count the Favre jerseys, and the cheese signs.

It Might Just Be the Editor in Me

Anyone catch those promos for the NFL Network’s upcoming Thursday/Saturday package that ran dozens of times during the Eagles-Steelers preseason game Friday, and presumably numerous other networks showing NFL games? On screen, “Thursday” was spelled “Thurday.” How does no one catch these things?

Centanni Freed

Reporter Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig have been freed from the Gaza Strip. Some great news, finally.

And… She’s Out of the Band

News Item: Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa May Be Divorcing
When I saw Bruce and Co. at the “Vote For Change” concert during the 2004 campaign, they let Patti do a solo set first, and during it someone from the crowd heckled “No more Bruce’s wife! Vote for change!” I guess Bruce must’ve listened.

Film Critic Quote of the Week

“Given that the Atlanta duo OutKast is one of the most creative forces hip-hop has witnessed, it’s ironic that the biggest problem with its first feature film is that the music is so mediocre — a serious failure when you’re trying to revive the movie musical.”

–Jim Derogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times on “Idlewild.” I agree- I loved the style, and there were some legitimately great moments, but the musical numbers really left something to be desired.

Sexual Perversity in Waltham

I thought there was a lot of creepy stuff happening in the Watch City back when I lived there, but that was apparently nothing compared to this recent scandal (as reported in Matt Taibbi’s “Week in Sportscrime” column):

“But even that wasn�t as weird as the reported tale of Waltham High School teacher/assistant basketball coach Robert Dacey. If you haven�t heard, police say that Dacey brought middle school boys back to his home, convinced them to blindfold themselves and lie on a table while they waited for a �masseuse� friend of his to come in, and then allegedly committed sex acts with the boys while wearing a wig and fake fingernails so the boys would think their sex partner was female. Bet on this Boston-area Crying Game scandal turning into a Canadian-produced Lifetime movie in the near future, the only plot change being that Dacey�s character will be apprehended by a crusading mom whom no one believed, played by Facts of Life actress Lisa Whelchel.”

Hey, Blair was pretty hot back in the day. For Waltham, anyway. And what kind of school would hire someone to work with boys whose name rhymes with “Gacy”?

A Sad Day for the Plutonians

Not only does Emory and Olgethorpe’s homeworld get de-classified as a planet, but not a single journalist has asked for their take on it.

All that, and the “Aqua Teen” movie has reportedly been pushed back to February ’07. Sorry, guys.