Grimm Reality?

So there is nothing new revealed in this article that I haven't heard before. Sportswriters speculating over Cowher calling it a career in Pittsburgh. I say in Pittsburgh because if he did retire, it would only be until his 3 daughters are all out of college and then i'm sure the bug would bite him to get back in the game. John Fox better keep that team in the playoffs every year - that's all I have to say. It would be a sad, sad day for me if Cowher decided to leave. I have always been a huge Cowher fan. Yes, he got outcoached in big games before. Yes, he stayed with Kordell Stewart too long. Yes, he kicked some fieldgoals that were WAY too conservative for my taste (the 2004 AFC Championship game being the most memorable). But I think the positives outweight any negatives and the negatives are slight to begin with. He looks like a fan out there sometimes. I love his passion. I love his fire. He has toned it down quite a bit since the early days and now uses it more appropriately. Remember the faces he used to make every time Josh Miller would shank a punt? He is inspirational for the young guys and a player's coach for the older guys. Another weakness he let show in the late 90's and early 00's was that he was too loyal to some veterans....Jason Gildon comes to mind quickly...Chad Scott...Dwayne Washington. He always seemed to trust a 'B' tier veteran over an 'A' tier rookie. He's getting better at that. But let's not talk about him like he's already gone. This could all be pure speculation. But if he does plan to bolt after his contract is up, I hope Dan Rooney is aware of that decision already. I want Russ Grimm as the next head coach. No substitutes. Grimmy fits the Steeler mold. He is local and he knows the importance of line play. The Steelers entire offense revolves around strong line play. Look what happened in 2003 when the line was beat up. It was basically the same team that went very far in 2002. Although, the golden nugget of finishing so poorly was that they drafted Roethlisberger. I have a very short list of coaches I would accept - although I really doubt the front office would hire a coach with experience. They would probably scout long and hard and hire another coach with no HC experience. I like John Fox but he's too old. If you're going to coach for the Rooney's - you better have 10 plus years worth of tread on your tires. I would assume they would hire someone in their 30's. Another guy I really like is Jack Del Rio. He reminds me alot of Cowher. When you really think about it, there aren't that many current coaches that I would like to have as a HC for the next 10 or so years. I know I don't want an X's and O's geek (Norv Turner type) and I don't want a fancy college resume either (Steve Inferior) . You know who I'd really like as HC for the next 10 years.......Bill Cowher.

I Have A Gift For Hilary Clinton

If Hilary Clinton would contact me, I have a gift for her. I'll even buy her husband Bill the same thing. I would like to send them both to Disney World. There have been 9 deaths since 2003 and 14 since 1989. Granted, most of them are found to have serious heart problems that were undetected before a thrill ride shortened their lives, but this option has to be getting serious consideration from people looking to dump their spouses. Buy a big insurance policy....take a trip to Disney. "Hey honey, let's ride Mission: Space nine times in a row!" I shudder to think that Hilary could be our president in the near future. Shudder. Shud-der. So, I figure for around $110 (2 all-day passes) maybe we could get lucky and one of them would croak. Yeah, that's morbid....but we've already determined I can be sadistic. Here's the article of the most recent death.

3,000 Hit Club

Hey....does that mean I automatically get into the Hall Of Fame? Does that mean Steeler Crazy Fan Bob H tried all day to be visitor 3,000, because he was.......

Lesse...we have Still A. Fan, Still A. Dog.....we need a name for this South Carolina whack-packer. I think he should sign up for a name "Still In South"? and comment regulary ala Dog.

Don't Make A Marine Angry

Ok.....read this story and tell me how wrong you think the Marine was? I'm not advocating shooting anyone, but damnit, if people weren't throwing things at his house - he wouldn't have picked up the gun in the first place. I wonder if this cat ever saw "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas? What? I can't order breakfast because it's 5 minutes past the breakfast time??????

Is this going too far.....

Some idiot took a Ben Roethlisberger bobblehead and painted it to look like Ben after the crash. He's selling it on Ebay as a one-of-a-kind. I can't wait to see what it goes for. Karma is a bitch dude....you better watch yourself.

See the listing here.

Slanted.19

Click Image For Larger Viewing

Hope He Didn't Eat Garlic

Watch This. Mercy. He went Tommy Lasorda.

Onlinecomics.net Just Got Slanted

Not that it means anything because it's a free site - but I submitted "Slanted: The Comic" to the free comic directory for approval to have a link to my site. It takes 3-4 days for approval and the site owner accepted it today. The only rule is that it can't currently be in "print" anywhere. We'll see if it generates any traffic. I had to submit 3 samples to put on the site so I used the Sleeping Pill, The Hornet and the Tuna Grinder. If you're bored, stop over to onlinecomics.net and leave a comment, vote, rate or do whatever they do to track comics. I would appreciate it. Plus, you might find something really funny over there. I'm going to check out some different ones this week.

Slanted's Listmania 2: Sitcoms

Ok, so we already know who made me randy back when I was 12 from the first list I compiled. If you missed that, check back in the archives. Last night as I was waiting for Entourage to start, I started thinking about the art of the 30 minute sitcom. It's a dead art as far as I'm concerned. The last sitcom I watched on a regular basis was The King Of Queens, and I stopped watching it at least 2 years ago. Some people will say Will & Grace was good, and it may have been compared to what else is on right now, but it could never stand up to the classics. The following list is my top 10 favorite sitcoms of all-time. They may be critically acclaimed or guilty pleasure lame, but they are my favorites. The one rule is that I had to have seen these shows in their prime...not reruns.

1. Cheers - There's not even a close second. When I was in highschool, I would leave my girlfriend's house early to come home and watch this because her family didn't watch it. In college my crew would get together to watch the happy hour double shot of Cheers at 6:00 and 6:30 every night after dinner. It was a ritual. The last few years had a few clunkers thrown in there, but for my money, it was the best.

2. MASH - I used to watch this with my dad before I even realized why half the stuff was funny. Once I got older, while new episodes were still being cranked out, I found that I prefered the original cast with Colonel Henry, Trapper and Frank. Classic.

3. All In The Family - Again, I was young when this was in it's prime - but I did watch it. I watched it just as much in reruns and I still enjoy it today on occassion.

4. Frasier - Smart writing. Very smart writing. I don't care what the critics were saying towards the end, I still loved it. Niles Crane is one of the best sitcom characters of all time.

5. Taxi - Not sure how it holds up because I haven't seen a rerun in a long time. I just remember how funny it was. Jim Ignatalski taking the driver's exam is my favorite episode.

6. Married With Children - Al Bundy = My Hero

7. Friends - Complete guilty pleasure. Chandler used to crack me up and the longer the show was on, the more I appreciated Joey. Plus, 2 of the three babes were "hubba hubba" and it was one of the few shows my wife and I actually watched together.

8. The Simpsons - This was a must watch for me the first 6-7 years it was on. Sunday nights however became a bad night for me for tv and I starting choosing NFL games over The Simpsons. I never really went back and have seen only a handful of newer episodes in the last 7-8 years.

9. Seinfeld - I know. I'm not even sure it should be #9 on my list. I liked it, but I didn't think it was anywhere close to Cheers, MASH or All in the Family. I never bought into the whole "show about nothing" thing. Every episode had a plot. The "nothing" thing was a line of BS.

10. Murphy Brown - Completely underrated in my opinion. Maybe it should be higher on my list. I loved this show. Miles was a classic character. When it jumped the shark though, it really jumped with the young anchor. Yuck.

11. Just Shoot Me
12. Newsradio
13. Larry Sanders Show
14. Soap
15. The Jeffersons
16. Sanford & Son
17. WKRP
18. Mork & Mindy
19. Spin City
20. All the cheesey ones I watched but won't admit (Growing Pains, Family Ties.....)

Rats...I forgot Night Court....It's somewhere between 14-19!

Great Googily Moogily - The Chefs!

Well, I got with my ticket source for the upcoming year and I got the Chefs (great googily moogily...I mean the Chiefs) for October 15th. Should be a great game and I've never seen the Chiefs play. It will be a challenge to shut the offense down but with Vermeil and Saunders gone, it may not be as prolific. It will be good to see Big W back in action this year at the tailgate and Still A. Dog will be with me. It should be a great time, as always.

What Few NFL Teams Have

Did you ever notice how Steeler fans are just everywhere? I live on the other side of the state and I see jerseys all the time. No matter where they play, the local fans in the area buy tickets and go. I never see more than 500 fans of opposing teams when I go to a home game. Never. I went to the Colts MNF game a few yers ago with my cousin who is a Colts fan and I don't think we saw another Colts fan the entire night near us. When I first moved away from the greater Pittsburgh area I found a bar that showed the Steeler games and 30-40 Steeler fans showed up every week. There is a website dedicated to Steeler fans in different cities and lists which bars are Steeler friendly. While you might think this photo was taken in Pittsburgh or at least PA during this season, it wasn't. It's from South Carolina. You might think it was taken the day of the Super Bowl. It wasn't. It was taken the day of the Championship game against Denver. There are hardcore fans all over the country. Damn, I'm ready for the season to start! Thanks for the photo SC-Bob!

Slanted #18

Theo Bell

Rest In Peace.

Former NFL wide receiver and return specialist Theo Bell, whose 10-year career in the league included a pair of Super Bowl victories with the Pittsburgh Steelers, died Wednesday at age 52 after a long battle with kidney disease. Bell was diagnosed in 2000 with polycystic kidney disease, a condition in which cysts attack the kidneys. More recently he also suffered from scleroderma, a disease which causes a hardening of the skin and damage to internal organs. The scleroderma had severely damaged Bell's lungs. Bell, the Steelers' fourth-round choice from Arizona in the 1976 draft, played five seasons in Pittsburgh (1976-80), then signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in 1981, and played five seasons with the Bucs (1981-85). With the Steelers, he won Super Bowl rings for victories in Super Bowl XIII and Super Bowl XIV, playing as the team's No. 4 wide receiver and as a punt returner and on special teams coverage units. In 10 seasons, Bell appeared in 127 games. He caught 136 passes for 2,375 yards and eight touchdowns and returned 189 punts for an 8.0-yard average. After his career, Bell, who had been raised in a series of foster homes in California, became involved in a number of charitable endeavors in the Tampa community. The most prominent was the GEARUP program, which originated at the University of South Florida, in which a mentor counsels a group of children from middle school and follows their progress through high school. Bell was particularly involved with Blake High School in Tampa. At the time of his death, Bell was on waiting lists for kidney and lung transplants, but had been hospitalized for two months and was undergoing dialysis three times a week.

Pelzer, South Carolina

Ok Pelzer....curiosity killed the cat and it's killing me. I can't figure out if you are friend, family or someone who happened along the site and liked it. I always look at the World Map view of my hits for the day (trust me, there aren't that many!) and when I blast them out to more detail I see Pelzer, SC every day. I know most of the other daily viewers but I can't figure out if Pelzer is just being used as the display hub for some of my family that lives in NC. So leave a comment and introduce yourself....if it's Kay, Art or Sharon....I'm just curious to know. Most people who don't "know" me hang around for a couple of days and then realize I'm really crazy and never come back! You could also subscribe using the link on the page if you want. I get no spam from Feedblitz and the others using it seem to like it. I've had no drops from people that have signed up.

Slanted #17

Click Cartoon For a Larger Image

And So I Had A Good Day

Daniel Powter didn't need to be playing in the background for me on Sunday. I had a pretty good Father's Day. Not sure how much better it could have been. I got to add this little baby to my drum kit. It's a Zildjian 14" Thin Fast Crash that has a really quick decay. Nice! I also got pancakes in bed with an appetizer of Oreo Bottom crackers and Wheat Thins combined in a bowl (my daughter's idea), a nice run in the morning, a day at the pool in 93 degree heat, grilled ribs, grilled corn on the cob and baked beans for dinner and ended the day with one of my favorite shows - Entourage on HBO. Why can't everyday be Father's Day? Oh yeah, the kitten scratched me too.

Slanted #16

Slanted #15

Peter King is Patriots Crazy

You know, I usually at least respect Peter King's opinion even if I don't agree with it. That being said, recently he is starting to slip. For one thing, when he picked this year's Super Bowl winner (Dallas), he had them playing the Pats in the big game. He went on to mention four contenders in the AFC - none of which were the Steelers....and this was BEFORE Ben decided to try out for the circus. Show some respect would ya? However, this will play into Cowher's motivational hand. He also graded out the draft from 5 years ago. I don't disagree that the draft class of the Steelers was weak behind first pick Casey Hampton, but listen how he simply tosses aside Casey..."First-round pick Casey Hampton has been an above-average anchor to the defensive line,". Damn! That's the understatement of the century. That proves to me that he is looking only at tackles and sacks instead of scheme and job assignment. I don't have to explain to Steeler fans what Casey Hampton means to this team. Ask Coach Cowher who the anchor of the entire 3-4 defense is and he'll tell you it's Casey. It's funny how Mr. King name drops Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady all the time in his weekly articles. Also funny that Parcells and Belicheck hate to talk to the press, and Peter picks them to go to the Super Bowl. Maybe he just wants more access to them this year?

Where Are They Now?

If you ever need motivation to exercise or motivation for anything really....sit down and read this. This totally disgusts me. What was done to these men is appalling enough, but the press that it received (or lack of I should say) is what I find really appalling. Americans took pictures of naked Arabs and made them lay against each other. Oh, the horror. These soldiers were crucified on TV and in the press for acting out. Acting out either in fear for what would happen to them if they were captured or for another reason...but it probably wasn't because they were animals that enjoy torturing people. I have nothing against using torture. Nothing. After reading this article, the rule book goes out the window in my opinion. What I don't know won't hurt me. I want several pounds of flesh back for this one. Hoorah. The fact that picture taking is cause for 3 weeks of national exposure and magazine covers and then these two fine soldiers gave their life in this manner and it barely gets mentioned for one full day is just sad. I feel for the families of these guys. Several pounds of flesh indeed. Where are our Hollywood liberals to come out against torture tonight?

Santonio Holmes Statement

"I understand that being a Pittsburgh Steeler carries along with it the demands for responsible behavior off the field," said Holmes. "I want to apologize for the negative attention that my arrest on Monday has brought upon the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, especially in light of my previous arrest in May."

".....but if that bitch acts up again you can betchyo' ass Imma knocker right back down"

Well, Ok, you caught me......I added that last part myself.

MySpace Gets Another Bum Rap

Read It Here. People kill me. This 14 year old girl gave someone over the internet information on how to contact her. I have no idea how that's MySpace's problem. None! What if he had called her house out of the blue and then she invited him over after he said he was in High School. Would her family then be able to sue the phone company? What if she met him at the mall and he told her he was a senior and he took her out and assaulted her? Would her family be able to sue the mall? No! This guy lied to her and she trusted him. MySpace was merely the vehicle that facilitated the lie. MySpace is a virtual hangout. You can blame her, you can blame the parents...but don't blame MySpace. My wife went to a Home & School meeting where a technology teacher was oversimplifying the dangers of MySpace. If you never put out personal information or give it away to those you meet online - it's harmless. Your own actions dictate how dangerous it is. We have a directory that includes the name, address, phone number and age of every child in our church and school. Seems to me if that directory fell into the wrong hands, it could be used in the exact same manner as MySpace to someone looking to do harm to a minor. People only hear about MySpace in the news because so many kids are on it. Monitor your kids, don't try to police the net. MySpace is no different than chatrooms which have been around since the net began. I would bet a kazillion dollars that more information has been passed thru chatrooms than MySpace but the press can't put a single name on the chatrooms like they can to MySpace. I feel bad for them. They have great game links. I use them all the time. I hope they don't settle this case because the bottom line is - the info she told this guy is what got her in trouble. I feel really bad for her and her family - but it's not MySpace's fault she got assaulted.

Holmes causing me to have Plaxbacks!

Wait a minute...I think I already posted this a few weeks ago. Check this link. Damn, I did. C'mon Santonio! One of the things I like about the Steelers is that they tend to draft character guys and release them if serious trouble starts - or at minimum - not resign them. Don;t make us feel this way.....we like good citizens. Two arrests in 2 months is not good and Mr. Rooney will call you and let you know that.

What If?

The question needs to be answered. Had Ben been wearing a helmet, but not a full face helmet - what would the bulk of the press be saying? I can't see headlines saying "He wasn't wearing the right helmet!". Sure it would have helped a little, but from this guy's view, not that much. Interesting thought. Read it here. <-- Click!

Snopes Version of Cindy Sheehan

For those who don't know....snopes.com is the authority on rumors and urban legends. Any email chain, any blog post of national interest - they are all over it. I mentioned Cindy Sheehan twice in the past and once just last week. That post received a comment from a "Cindy" of unknown origin that had a quote about being uninformed. However, from the comment she made and the comment preceeding it - I have no idea what it was in reference to. It could be my point of view, the administration, the public in general or the comment by Stilladog. In any event, I know the post came from New York and I know Sheehan lives in CA. I wish I knew if she was in New York when that post was made. I decided to find out how the poster found my site. It came from a blog search engine of "Cindy Sheehan" and my blog post was on page 6! So, somebody went through 6 pages of links to blog posts mentioning Cindy Sheehan. I wonder if they all got a comment? I'm going to research that a bit more tomorrow. Anway - I read a few of the other blog entries and I saw something that hit me as odd. Read This. It's about the grave marker (or lack of grave marker until recently) of her son Casey. Snopes.com knows the 4-1-1 and provides both sides of the story. I don't believe hers....simple as that. Maybe "Cindy" will have another comment next week? I've even heard she may run for president on the Green ticket. Hmmmmm. Well, she might get a few thousand votes. More power to her. It's a free country......thanks to people like her son. I would like to know how she felt about her son in the military before Iraq was invaded. Did she always have this point of view? I mean she has something to do with a book about why you shouldn't join the military! Egads, woman, enough!

Manson Followers Group Photo Found

This photo was recently discovered in a box full of memorabilia belonging to a longtime member of the Charles Manson clan. The member suddenly quit when the authorities were closing in on the underground group and went into hiding. After a name change and some soul searching, the troubled young adult found Jesus and got his life back together. Although Manson isn't in this picture himself, some of his most devoted disciples are. The back row contains Lenny "Chops" Morgan who wore his sideburns in the "pork chop" style because he liked to "chop" off fingers and toes from people he killed. He used the parts for jewelery he would wear himself. Second from left in the back is Manson's brother, Robert. Robert never killed anyone with his own hands but was present when other murders took place. He often planned the clan's menus and drove the getaway cars. He was somewhat jealous of Charles but due to his low IQ (reportedly 76) Charles couldn't trust him with important tasks. In the back row on the right is "Bear" Jones. Rumor has it that Muppets creator Jim Henson had a fascination with the Manson scene and the muppet Fozzie Bear was created in "Bear" Jones' image. Second from the left in the second row is Epstein Goldberg. He kept the finances for the terror group and after serving 10 years in prison went on to start a record label and is now semi-retired from the entertainment industry. The first guy on the left in the bottom row is.....is......Bill Gates? Damn! I got my stories messed up. This is a photo of the 11 founding members of Microsoft Corporation. Sorry. Well, they all look like Manson followers...except Bill...which is kind of scary in itself.

Slanted #14

I'm not in love with this caption. I'm not sure everyone knows what a "pay lake" is - although everyone from my hometown sure knows. A better caption may have been "Opportunistic Carp" or "Carnival Barkers of the Fish World".....maybe even "Trout without a Conscious" or "Sadistic Muskie". Leave a comment if you have a better caption without changing the drawing.

Slanted #13

Slanted #12

Vote for Jack

Fox Sports is running a contest for the Best Badass of All-Time in their prime. The criteria are taking pain, inflicting pain and intimidation. Jack Lambert is currently in the elite 8 and losing 43-57 to some clown I don't even know. Vote once per IP address so vote from home and from the office. Email the link to your friends. Vote from every machine you can think of with a different IP address. Let's get Jack the win!

Link is: http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5668404

Lucy, Can You 'Splain This To Me?

It's all over the net today that the 2,500th US soldier has died in Iraq. That's in a little over 3 years. Tragic as it is, that's about 1 death every 13 hours. Don't get me wrong, I don't anyone to die serving our country - but if we are at war - 1 death every 13 hours is amazing if you ask me. I saw there is a huge protest going on in DC today with protesters hovering around coffins with flags draped over them. I wonder many things as I see this. I wonder if any of them watched "Baghdad ER" on HBO where wounded soldiers cried because they couldn't go back to their units. I wonder if they know there are guys out there who sign back up after their tours are completed because they feel it's the right thing to do. I wonder if they know that Cindy Sheehan's son RE-ENLISTED after his first tour. These people will tell you that 1 death is too many. That's a stupid comment in my opinion. Of course 1 death is too many. Why don't you tell me the sky is blue while you're at it. Here is what really gets me. A quick google search on causes of death will show you that over 15,000 people die every year (yes, every year, not every 3) from DUI related deaths. Thats 1 death every 33 minutes according to their data. Why aren't people parading in the streets about that? Seriously...why not? And I picked something WAY down the list. Heart disease kills over 600,000 people a year but it would be harder to prevent. People will say the Iraq deaths could be prevented by not having them there in the first place. Well, that's true. But it's not like they're not doing any good. Saddam is out of power and al-Zaridiot has been killed along with WhoDey and WeDey. A democracy in it's infancy today will be much stronger in 25 years. What do we get for the DUI deaths? Nothing. We can't prevent them, you say? I say "Bullshit" (I'm feeling very eloquent today). You're telling me a country that put a man on the moon in the 60's can't invent a device to tell if a driver has been drinking? Sure, but it might raise the cost of the car $50-100. Oh. My bad. If we got the best engineers in the world together, we couldn't come up with some device or some method of keeping people with blood alcohol levels of .10 from starting their engine? No, but we can build cruise ships that hold 4,000 people and bridges that go on for miles and jets that fly faster than the speed of sound. Driving a car after 12 beers....we can't stop that. We can put a device on your windshield that allows you to get turn-by-turn driving directions from Mr. T to the closest Italian eatery, but we can't stop you from driving again if you have 3 bottles of wine while you're there. You could also stop it with legislation. First offense, same as it is now if there are no injuries to anyone but yourself. Second? You're done driving forever. Or, you lose 10% of future earnings to be given to affected families. You want people to stop, how about the death penalty if you kill another person? How about the death penalty for 3rd offense whether anyone was killed or not (because at 3 offenses it's only a matter of time). I'm not saying these are the laws I want - I'm saying if you wanted to dial back the deaths a little - this would do it. Again, don't get me wrong, DUI and MADD are not my fights of choice (actually, cancer is my fight of choice) but I picked it because every 33 minutes some lunkhead is likely to hit another car full of a family going to a park or something and dramatically changing everyone's life that is involved and nobody is really mad about it anymore. These people hear 2 more soldiers die and they rant and rave and get all worked up when they are there doing good (in my opinion) and yet every night on the news they don't even register that 48 people died of DUI related accidents. What's my point? I don't really know except that I wish these people that claim they are only angry at the deaths would focus some of that energy on problems that kill way more people and aren't politicized. I say that because had Bill Clinton sent troops to Iraq, I'm not sure these same people would be out there today protesting.

Feel free to email this article along to anyone you think may agree...or disagree.

Obi-Wan Bushobi

Check this cool video out <---- Click It!

Slanted #11

7 Weeks. Whew! Who Cares About License?

Ok. I'm already sick of reading about the "not having a license" issue. Can we be happy the man is alright first? This is the ugly side of the media when it smells blood. Everyone who saw the accident claims the old bat turned right in front of him. Whether he has a valid license or not doesn't matter to me. What's the worst thing to come out of that? A fine? Whoopity Whoop. Now, had the accident been his fault with no license...that's another story. All these people want to pile on about not having a license but think of it this way: I'm 37. I started driving when I was 16. Let's say I drive my car 20 times a week, thats 1000 times a year, thats 21,000 times I've driven a car. Guess what? I was 20 mph over the legal speed limit 19,999 times. Everyone who gets behind the wheel of ANY motor vehicle does something illegal at one time or another. So his learner's permit was 2 months expired....I really don't get the pile on about that. Who cares?

Slanted #10

Slanted #9

I Can't Even Reflect Yet

......when I can, I will..............

Petrol and Grills, Not a Great Mix

So, when your fire starts going out, you know...throw some gas on it....that'll work. Read the article here.

Yes, I'm A Tad Sadistic

Good News. The airstrike didn't kill al-Zarqawi immediately. He was actually alive and saw US troops right before he died. See, to me that's better than him dying immediately from the 2 500 lb bombs that were dropped on his noggin'. I like the fact that he saw our troops and knew that someone probably dropped a dime on him and we took him out. Somebody should have whispered in his ear that Osama Bin Loopy was dead also. Article here.

Who is this guy?

I put this guy's picture in the "right" column because that's where he belongs. This photo and the accompanying blurb were in the latest email issue of Sizzle on the Grill from Char-Broil.

---------------------------
I asked readers to share their stories about grilling. Within minutes of the email hitting mailboxes around the world (that's right Sizzle on the Grill goes to Europe, Asia, Australia and South America!) I received hundreds of emails from folks who are very passionate about grilling. With the summer grilling season upon us, I thought it would be fun to share this photo I've chosen to showcase this month in the "Keeper of the Flame Hall of Fame."

A passion for grilling snows no season!
"I never let the weather stand between me and some grilled dining pleasure. I have 2 Char-Broil grills and here's a photo of me with a couple of steaks I grilled just after a hefty snowfall in late January."Happy Grilling!Allen A.
Allen asked me to be sure to mention the photo was taken by his wife, Robbin. ...Hey Allen I hope you shared those steaks! - CB
----------------------------

Nice job Double A! Hope your head doesn't get too big now that you're famous.

Funny, Berg Doesn't Sound French

I put this idiot's picture in the "left" column because that's where he is most comfortable. Let me introduce you to Michael Berg - father of beheaded American Peter Berg. al-Zarqawi killed his son with his own hands. He also beheaded another American, a Mr. Armstrong. Here is the difference between Armstrong's family comments and Berg's:

"An evil man is dead, and what more can you say?" said family spokeswoman Cyndi Armstrong, the wife of the slain contractor's cousin. Michael Berg, a pacifist who is running for Delaware's lone House seat on the Green Party ticket, said al-Zarqawi's death is likely to foster anti-American resentment among al-Qaida members who feel they have nothing left to lose. Berg said the blame for most deaths in Iraq should be placed on President Bush, who he said is "more of a terrorist than Zarqawi." "Zarqawi felt my son's breath on his hand as held the knife against his throat. Zarqawi had to look in his eyes when he did it," Berg added, pausing to collect himself. "George Bush sits there glassy-eyed in his office with pieces of paper and condemns people to death. That to me is a real terrorist."

I can't even reconcile that statement in my head. Had that been my son I would have pulled a Pat Tillman and been over there ASAP. If the Army wouldn't have taken me, I would have went to a surrounding country and entered Iraq myself. If I ended up dead - at least I ended up dead trying to avenge my son's brutal murder. War is part of life. Always has been - Always will be. I respect his right to have an opinion.....even if his opinion makes me want to puke. My opinion is that Mr. Berg should pack up his bags and move to Paris.

Geno's Rules - F Pat's

Read This. I knew there was a reason I prefer Geno's. I'll even plug 'em. www.genosteaks.com And yes, that's a pic of a real Geno's steak.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Dead!

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Rot in hell you crazy bastard.

Oh Great!

If you didn't already know, we rescued a kitten 2 weeks ago through PetSmart. Through a few web searches, we discovered that it's actually a pretty rare breed....a Havana Brown. Not like it happens often or anything, but just my luck this tidbit came out today.... <---- Click It!

Steelers #1 For Merchandise

Read It <---- Click It. Cool. They usually finish in the top 5 anyway. Winning the Super Bowl surely helps. Also good to note that the Steelers participated in 5 of the 15 most watched games this year.

What A Complete Waste Of Energy

This article makes me sick. <--Click It! Can you believe the insanity? If you want to save 5 minutes of your life - I'll recap the article. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have made an exclusive rights deal for between $5-$7 million dollars for pictures of their baby. They will give the money to charity. The fact that the stupid pictures are worth that much on the open market is the first obnoxious item. Getty Images is taking the pictures. One magazine has North American rights or something so stupid I refuse to even go back and read it again. While all of that is truly disturbing by itself - it gets even worse. Two websites somehow got ahold of the pictures and had them online yesterday. The quotes about the piracy from the magazine executive who had exclusive rights are hilarious! Her word selection attaches the same importance to this as 9/11 or worse. She goes on to condemn the internet for allowing things like this to spread unchecked. What? Are you telling me that this woman's life is so unimportant that all she can do is sit around and think about this? There are wars going on, genocide being committed, diseases that have no cures, corrupt politicians, hungry children, neglected children......and entire companies have their collective panties in a bunch because of this? So, when questioned as to why she is upset today, this woman can convey these facts: one idiot superstar divorced another idiot superstar so he could get with yet another idiot superstar. The two idiot superstars had a baby. (OH....MY....GAWD!). We paid roughly $6 million dollars for the pictures of baby Jesus...I mean Pitt. We paid that much so nobody else could take pictures of baby Jesus..I mean Pitt (darn!). Then, somebody on the inside sold those pictures to 2 websites (yes TWO!) out of about 2 billion. WAAAAAAH! I mean REALLY? Who gives a shit? When baby Jesus leaves the hut in Africa it was born in....if it sees it's shadow, does that mean summer will be longer this year?

Hines The Voice Of Reason

Another good Steelers article. <--- Read It Here. I was starting to get worried until I got down to the Hines Ward quote. Whew. Big sigh of relief. If it ain't broke, don't fixt it.

PA PC Man To Improve upon Texas Plan

First Skim This <---- Click It Texas is going to have a plan installed where cameras will be on the border hooked up to a live internet feed. Anyone can watch the feed and dial a number on the screen if they see illegal activity. "Superb idea, but not enough" was the mantra coming out of Cabot, PA today. Software guru "Dead Arm" (name withheld to protect his secret identity) has vowed to hack the system and take it one step further. "Myself and the far underground group 'The Tailgaters' are having automatic weapons installed near each camera. Once we hack the system, your mouse will control a moving scope site that will allow you to shoot anyone (if your aim is true) who dares to cross this border illegal like." As he speaks, you get the feeling he is just the man who can get this done. He beckons you in a hushed tone back over to add a sidebar....."you know.....Jim Morrison isn't really dead...". Hmmmmm, or maybe he should be locked up? In any event, Cabot's "Dead Arm" is dead serious about the lack of border control in this country and he is angry. Angry like you have never seen it. Asked what he'll do if the Mexicans tunnel under the border avoiding the cameras and weapons, "Dead Arm" just smiled and opened a sketch book of his crew's new "bunker buster". It looks rather simple in design but it's effectiveness cannot be denied. The design calls for "Dead Arm" himself to go about his normal eating habits for one full day. Small holes will then be drilled at 2 foot intervals along the border in question. A 4-foot length of PVC pipe roughly the diameter of an adult male's anus is also required. "Dead Arm" will then go from hole to hole, inserting the pipe in his ass and passing "wind" into the tunnels. When questioned about the potency of such a device, he gave a reference from his school days to validate the story. We contacted "The Exterminator" who is currently leading a spy's double life in eastern PA. "Yeah I lived with him for a few years, after a few Stoney's, some chicken legs and potato wedges...that boy could.......". The Exterminator suddenly passed out in midsentence just thinking about the pungent aroma of a "Dead Arm" smart bomb. We'll update this story when (if) he regains his senses (we doubt it).

David Chase Bucks Tradition

Why, Lord, why does every TV show think they have to have a season ending cliffhanger of some sort? It may not have been the first, but "Who Shot JR?" from Dallas still seems to have been the biggest. Cheers was also very good at this as they made use of the last episode to draw you in for next season. The one I remember most is Sam picking up the telephone and saying "Will you marry me?" and they didn't show who he was talking to. The problem with these shows being so successful using that formula is that now every show under the sun has to do it. When I think back 10 years, I can't remember commercials around this time of year screaming "last 3 episodes of the season..." or "one of these characters won't make it...." or "the cast is going to lose one of their own...". I get sick of it and it's over done. Maybe that's why I don't watch a lot of TV anymore. The Sopranos and Entourage are the only shows that I really try not to miss. I don't watch any sitcoms or other dramas. I like Deal or No Deal but they piled on last night with a "season ending episode". It's a GAMESHOW. Gameshows don't need season ending episodes! They also made it 90 minutes and had to drag it out by having commercials every 5 minutes. This show also "jumped the shark" in my opinion when they started playing "make a wish" foundation several weeks ago. It's a gameshow and a good one at that. Let it be. The second the girl last night mentioned she is a big Celine Dion fan and had a good luck charm from her concert....I KNEW they were springing Celine on her and they did. To have that goofy looking Canadian live via satellite acting like she gave a shit about this girl winning pocket change (to her) made me ill. I may stop watching it next year. Remember back to the days of M*A*S*H and Three's Company? You didn't know if an episode was the 1st, 10th or last episode of the season. I kind of miss that. No false hype. I'm not saying to never use it - but quit concocting some idiotic plot JUST for the sake of having a special season ending episode. Now...where was I? Oh yeah. David Chase gets mad props from me for how he ended this season of The Sopranos. I think he was fed up with this notion also as people were all hyped up to see what would happen....not because anything was building up (Vito was killed off already) but simply because the season was ending. He even fooled the hardcore fans by having Christopher and his new wife discussing eggs near the beginning of the show (talking about March of the Penguins). If you don't know the symbolism of eggs to the show - check out the Sopranos page on Wikipedia.org. I felt like Chase used the entire episode to make you think something was going to happen - only to have nothing happen. AJ confronting the gang, Christopher in the diner going to his car...there were a few others that I can't remember, but I think that was all by design. I think it was Chase's way of saying "I write this show...not the fans or the critics and I won't be pressured into writing a horrible death just because everyone expects it for the last episode". Good choice. I liked it. If you were disappointed - watch it again this week and see if you can appreciate it better from this point of view.

George Lucas Just Wasted Another 2.5 Hours Of My Life

As much as I loved the first Star Wars trilogy, I have to be honest and say I hated the latest trilogy. I just finished watching Revenge of the Sith on HBO this morning and I was so disappointed I can't even articulate it. I say finished because I started watching it last night at 11:00 pm but I was so disinterested I went to sleep at 12:15 knowing I could catch the ending later. The acting is atrocious. The dialogue is terrible (as always) and special effects have advanced so much since 1976 it's hard to impress anyone anymore. A cheaply made movie on TV can have the same effects that a Lucas movie has. I read a rumor a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that said Star Wars may come to TV and Kevin Smith may "own" the project. That would certainly restore some luster for me. Two of my favorite franchises working together. Maybe 5 years from now when everyone's disappointment fades Lucas could hire Kevin Smith to write and direct the last 3 chapters of the saga. I can't even go into details about everything I didn't like about this movie as it would take the rest of the day. All I can say in a nutshell is that it was totally uninspired. The only lines delivered in the entire film that I believed to be real were the lines Obi Wan screamed at Vader as he lay dying. Samuel L. Jackson should be ashamed to even be associated with this group of actors. He is the lone "real" actor in my opinion - much like Liam Neeson in the last two. It's still hard for me to see Samuel L. Jackson die without calling someone a "mother-hubbard". Egad.....I watched Nanny McPhee with my daughter last night and if you held a gun to my head and forced me to watch either of them again....I'd choose Nanny McPhee. That's pretty sad coming from someone who slept on Star Wars sheets, collected the action figures, cards, models, posters and everything else until a few years after Return of the Jedi debuted. It's a sad day in the galaxy. Save us Kevin Smith....

Edge Still Has A Big Head

Full article here. Edgerrin James was given a HUGE contract ($30 million) by the Arizona Cardinals to play football for the next 4 years. You would think the least he could do is show up for all team practices. Much like he did with the Colts, he is skipping some of the June practices to work out on his own in Florida. In his later years with the Colts, it wasn't so bad as he knew the offense and just needed to get in shape. Not so this year. Do you think he knows every play already? Does he know his blocking assignments? Is this a good way to endear himself to his new teammates? What a giant asshole! Also, in his first week at practice, he took over the locker room by blasting hardcore rap music with devout Christian Kurt Warner in the same locker room. He reportedly told Kurt to "listen to the beat, not the lyrics" and said he didn't want to step on anyone's toes "just yet". But hey, he's "Edge"....he can do whatever the hell he pleases, right? I want to see what Edge does when he's not with Manning and company and teams actually key on him. He NEVER saw 8 man fronts as a Colt. If Warner gets hurt (I mean "when") and Leinhart comes in, expect him to see nothing BUT 8 man fronts. Then we'll see how good he is instead of playing with the Colts spread offense when defenses are pooping their pants worrying about Manning and the receivers instead of Edge.

Don't Fight Mother Nature!

Can someone explain something to me? Hurricane Katrina killed 1,570 people. The Army Corp of Engineers is now taking the blame for the levee failures. We have already spent $800 million fixing the system and another $3.7 BILLION in spending is planned. Huh? Remember when Sam Kinison made fun of sending people food and money that lived in places where food didn't grow? (What is this?....SAND. What's this going to be in 500 years?.....SAND! Don't send food to these people - move these people to the food!) or something like that. This might be a dumb question - but why do we need a city there? Yes, it was a strategic location at one point - but is it entirely necessary now? The question you have to ask yourself is "is it worth spending all this money so that people can live 5-10 feet below sea-level?". Why fight Mother Nature? If New York City is over-populated are we going to build platforms 110 stories in the air so we can build another city ontop of the existing one? Let me explain something to you: If I was born in tornado alley and I built a house and it was destroyed, then I built another house and it was destroyed....I'm NOT building a third and I might not even build the second! Sure, call me crazy because these people are poor and can't just pick up and move. Well, they were forced to move last year so why rebuild the area only to have them come back? This time around the property that was once shacks will now be high-priced condos and houses. Great. People were profiteering. So the next time this happens instead of losing lives and shitty housing, we'll lose lives and exquisite housing. I'm not trying to be callous or anything - but suppose we just discovered North America and were planning where one of our major tourist destinations would be. Would one of our first projects be to spend billions of dollars so people could live below sea-level? So many things can go wrong in a levee/pump system that it simply baffles me as to why we try to combat this. Mother Nature is not an engineering problem waiting to be solved and I don't think anyone should have to apologize for the structural system failing. The people that should have to apologize are the local and state officials who did not have an adequate evacuation plan. Would we blame NASA if a meteor struck Earth? Instead of pouring money into this area faster than the waters actually came in year after year for testing, maintenance and labor.....maybe we should add up the total cost of that over 15-20 years, split it up between the residents and give them seed money to get out of dodge. A simplistic solution but I don't think you can beat the ocean in a fair fight. Just my two cents.

Slanted #8