Picture Update

The September Picture Update is available. Plenty of pictures this month, including a couple from early in the month when we were treated to a beautiful sunrise. There's also a few of Aidan in his new dragon costume, which should be seen again come late October.

You should also find plenty of pictures of Aidan and his dare-devil friend, Silas, at the swimming pool, enjoying a late summer romp in the water.

Two in a Row

Ok, now it's time to take a deep breath and savor the moment. The Red Sox clinched a playoff spot with a win over Tampa Bay last night. This is only the third time in Red Sox history that they've made the playoffs in consecutive years....

Here's an interesting observation about the potential playoff matchups. The winner of the American League East division will play the division winner with the worst record. Currently, that's the AL West-leading Oakland A's. Minnesota has already clinched the AL Central division and has a one game lead over Oakland in the overall standings. Here are the standings as of this afternoon:

But here's the rub: The Yankees are playing Minnesota for three of those games. Let's, for the sake of argument, say that Oakland wins two of their next three games. Let's also say that the Yankees win two-of-three from Minnesota. Here's what the standings would look like with three games left to play:

Let's say that Oakland wins two of their last three games, thus ensuring that Oakland wins the AL West. Minnesota then has to also win two of their last three games to keep pace. In other words, by beating Minnesota, the Yankees risk having to play Minnesota in the playoffs, thus giving the Red Sox a seemingly better first round matchup in the playoffs (the Red Sox are 8-1 against Oakland this year, as opposed to 2-4 against Minnesota).

However, let's suppose that Minnesota sweeps the Yankees in their regular season finale, winning all three games, and the Red Sox win their next three games. Here's what the standings would look like in the AL East:

The Yankees would then be at risk of losing the division lead to the Red Sox. With only three games left (after the scenario above plays out), the Yankees would have to sweep their season-ending series and hope for a Red Sox loss to ensure that they win the AL East, or be forced to play Minnesota in the first round.....

The Saga Continues ...

The Red Sox and Yankees met again over the weekend, the results of which were the exact opposite of the previous weekend in New York. This time, it was the Yankees who won the first game in a close contest. The Red Sox easily won the last two games of the series (12-5, and 11-4), which allowed them to win the season series from the Yankees for the first time since 1999, by winning 11 of the 19 games.

According to ESPN, the series was statstically very close, as each team scored virtually the same amount of runs (105 for the Sox; 104 for the Yanks). The Yankees won three games in their final at-bat; the Red Sox accomplished that feat four times.

But regardless of the Red Sox success against the Yankees this year, the fact remains that they most likely won't win the American League East. They still sit 3.5 game behind the Yanks, and the Sox only have 7 games left (the Yankees have 6).

However, the Red Sox will most probably make the playoffs as the Wild Card team, since they hold a 6 game lead over Anaheim.

As everything stands right now, the Yankees will face the division winner from the AL West in the first round of the playoffs. There's no clear-cut team that will come from the West yet, but the Oakland A's seem to have the upper hand with a 1 game lead over Anaheim, but both Anaheim and Texas (2 games back) are still in the mix, with Oakland and Anaheim facing each other on the last weekend of the season.

The Red Sox will probably have to face Minnesota in the first round, and this will likely be a much more difficult team to face than whoever faces the Yankees from the West. While the Red Sox actually have a better overall record than Minnesota (93-62 vs. 90-66), the Twins won four games from the Red Sox in their six regular season matchups.

But don't savor the moment yet. The Red Sox have not clinched a playoff spot yet, and because of that (and some other factors), the playoff matchups aren't quite set in stone (but it's close). In fact, it would be very cool if the Red Sox can somehow get matched up with Oakland instead of Minnesota (the Red Sox are 8-1 against Oakland), but clinching a playoff spot is enough at this point (I mean ... as long as we're hoping for things ... let's take the AL East and leave Minnesota to the Yankees).

In a somewhat related topic, the football season has begun and the Raiders (my favorite team) are trying to rebuild from a very disappointing 4-12 season last year. They lost the first game of this season to Pittsburgh (in heartbreaking fashion — they lost 24-21 on a last second field goal after coming back from a 14-0 deficit). Yet they have won their last two games in a relatively convincing manner (relatively being the keyword; they are not playing like juggernauts, but they are playing fairly well).

One potential reason for the Raiders turn-around? Maybe it was good draft picks. Maybe the coaching change has done them some good. But I also took the Raiders sticker off the back of my car.

I got my new car in January of 2003. For the entire time that I had my old pick-up truck, the Raiders played very well, contending for the Super Bowl every year and always coming up just short. But each year they got closer and closer. I sold that truck in January 2003 and got the new Element. Right before the Raiders first appearance in the Super Bowl since 1984.

I had a feeling that this transition might not be a good thing for the Raiders, so I took the Raider sticker off of the old truck and put a similar Raider sticker on the back of the Element. Whoops. They got killed 48-21 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in said Super Bowl.

But I left the sticker where it was ... and the following season was a disaster. They won only 4 games, all of which they could have easily lost. In other words, they were lucky to even win those four.

So, I took the sticker off of the Element. The Raiders are winning. Coincidence? Last night the Raiders faced the Buccaneers for the first time since that Super Bowl debacle. The result this time? A 30-20 Raider victory. I wish I had done this two-and-a-half years ago....

Fit for Life

I thought that Jack La Lanne was a nut, sort of like a Richard Simmons on steriods. Well, that may be a little harsh, but I'm trying to bring up an image for those who may not know who Jack La Lanne is.

La Lanne had a few fitness and exercise shows back in the 1950s. I obviously don't remember those (before my time), but he also had a few infomercials during the 80s and 90s. I do remember those.

He came across as an incredibly happy, gregarious, talkative ... well, Richard Simons-like personality, but with lots of muscles. Jack La Lanne turns 90 years old today and there was a story about him on NPR the other morning. He sounded completely lucid. The reporter described La Lanne as physically fit. This is starting to sound like maybe La Lanne really does know what he's talking about. Maybe getting health advice from a vibrant 90-year old seems to make some sense. Maybe he's not a crack-pot.

As an aside, and on a somewhat related topic, I've been having the strangest food cravings lately. Strange in that this isn't something that has ever really happend for me. Oddly enough, the healthier that I eat, the more I crave healthy food and the less I desire sugary, fatty foods. I"m not sure why that is, but that is what's happening.

Tike on a Trike

Come and get it! The latest Aidan video is now available.

Small Version (for slow Internet connections)
Large Version (for faster Internet connections)

The Fear Factor

Let me first start by saying that I do not consider myself to be a Democrat nor a Republican. I do vote and have voted in every presidential election that I've been eligable (I turned 18 in March of 1989), and I try to get out and vote on local issues. And, when I do vote, I generally vote all over the map: I'll vote for Democratic candidates, Republicans, independents, anyone who I think would do a good job.

Additionally, I am not much of a political activist, or an activist in any sense, really. While I do usually form some pretty strong opinions, sometimes about political things, I don't spend too much time "pounding the pavement" for one side or another, especially on national issues and especially on national candidates.

But this year is a little bit different. I think we may well be in a time of moral crisis. If we aren't now, then I feel we will be soon if George W. Bush is re-elected. Dante envisioned those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis would be stuck at the gates of Hell, tormented by hornets and wasps as worms devoured their blood as it falls to the ground.

I cannot and will not support Bush. I am under no illusion that my vote will "mean something," as I live in Texas; Bush will almostly certainly receive the vast majority of the vote. However, I won't stay silent or remain neutral (just in case Dante was right) and I will choose to cast my vote in a different way — not at the poll, but as a statement.

Why Bush is getting any support at all is completely mind-boggling to me. I suppose there are Republican die-hards and people who only care about one particular issue that Bush seemingly supports. There must be more of those types of people than I had imagined, because I cannot fathom why Bush has so many supporters.

My opposition to Bush is very specific. It's not about a particular platform. I don't know if there are many differences between Bush and John Kerry on many of the issues. And I'm not convinced that either will have much impact over certain things. For example, I don't think that Bush is to blame for the bad economy, just as I don't think he's much to credit for fixing it, not that it's really considered "fixed" by many. The economy is bigger than just one person (and it would be a scary thought if it wasn't). Ultimately, if Bush does (or did) have much affect on the economy, it is because he happens to be president while his party is also in control of Congress.

President Bush broke a lot of promises from the first campaign. But I'm not so upset about that either, as lots of politicians have done this; Bush is not unique in this and if John Kerry is elected, I am certain that he will do the same. Although some of the promises that Bush did break do irritate me, probably more than any other president's broken promises. But I don't have high expectations here, so I'm not subtracting (many) points from the Republicans on this issue.

To this extent, campaign promises are virtually meaningless. And I think Bush understands this. What his campaign is doing is a little bit different from past campaigns and a little bit clever (and a whole-lot disturbing). He's running on a campaign of fear.

President Bush has created an enemy where there wasn't one. He pushed and insinuated that Iraq was part of the September 11 attacks. Mind you, they haven't overtly said this. Their basic claim is that Iraq has strong ties with al Qaeda. And al Qaeda is strongly and widely believed to be behind the attacks. For example, Vice President Cheney stated on NBC's "Meet the Press" that "it was 'pretty well confirmed' that attack mastermind Mohamed Atta met with a senior Iraqi intelligence official." Not an overt claim that Iraq and al Qaeda are connected, but it does plant the seed.

And the connection has been made by the American public. According to an August 2003 Washington Post poll, 69% of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks. Yet a Congressional investigation has not been able to turn up an actual link between al Qaeda and Iraq.

The White House presented the United Nations with some seemingly detailed intelligence as to the state of Iraq and its disarmament obilgations and the general menace that it was to the world. Most of this presentation has now been revealed to be inaccurate at best and in some cases outright fabricated.

The main impetuous for starting the war with Iraq, the idea that was cited time and again, was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and were able and willing to use them at a moments notice. This has now been proven to be specious reasoning.

All of this leading to the idea that we, the United States of America, would be in serious trouble without President Bush protecting us. He has, in effect, set himself up to be the Great Protector.

Vice President Cheney said as much at a town-hall meeting. "It’s absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we’ll get hit again and we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."

A statement like this is completely unprovable and uncalled for. In fact, I personally feel less secure with Bush in the White House than at any other time in my life. Bush, in my opinion, has undermined our nation's credibility with misleading intelligence, unilateral, arrogant action against sovereign countries, and because of this has put us in a position for further attacks and weakened alliances. This has been one of the more egregious broken promises that he's made, since it seemed that he "got it." During a Presidential Debate between Bush and Al Gore, Bush stated:

[Other countries] ought to look at us as a country that understands freedom where it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from that you can succeed. I don’t think they ought to look at us with envy. It really depends upon how [our] nation conducts itself in foreign policy. If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us. If we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. Our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power. And that’s why we’ve got to be humble and yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom. We’re a freedom-loving nation. If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll view us that way, but if we’re humble nation, they’ll respect us.

Basically, for me, it boils down to this: Bush has lead the nation through some very perilous times and he's taken advantage of this fact in order to make us (as a nation) more fearful about how things will turn out if we don't re-elect him. I think that is gutless and insults our intelligence.

Bush has had every opportunity to prove that he's a worthy leader. As it turns out, he isn't. And while I do believe he is a man of his convictions, I also believe that his convictions are not in the best interest of the United States on its own or as part of a global neighborhood.

He has failed as a leader — politically but mostly morally in my book — and he doesn't deserve another chance to prove he can do better, because his track record speaks volumes. He has brought us to war based on very flimsy evidence and business-serving reasons (well, I guess corporate folk have plenty of reason to support Bush). And despite his protestations, Bush has not made us safer from terrorism.

Dante envisioned warmongers soaking for eternity in a river of boiling blood. Perhaps the Bush administration isn't as worried about Dante being right as I am.

Fact Check.org

Hud's Blog-O-Rama

resurrectionsong.com

iamvoting

Sixth Extinction

I found an interesting article on species extinction that proposes a unique way to remind us about the different species that are gone, or soon will be. I think the author states this well:

To consider the extinction crisis is [to] visit with death and guilt and horror. It's like living in a W.S. Merwin poem. It overwhelms you. It pulls you down like dark cold water. We are not culturally equipped to handle this stuff.

But that's no excuse for ignoring the problem, hoping that it will go away. But we are rarely confronted with the vanishing of species in our everyday lives. And even if species are vanishing, it generally doesn't affect us in the present moment. Sometimes it's just hard to picture what an extinction really means.

To that end, the author's proposal is interesting, but not terribly pragmatic. The author proposes that people volunteer to have extinct species tattooed on their bodies, as a constant reminder and memorial to species that are gone. Unfortunately, tattoos are far from universal, as some cultures (sub- and otherwise) find them attractive and other don't. Some religions don't allow their members to tattoo themselves at all. So, while the notion is somewhat clever, the execution of the idea can only fall short.

According to some, we are living in the Sixth Extinction. It might really be too much to think about. It might be too easy to forget about and just hope that the problem just goes away or someone else solves it. And having some sort of daily reminder about dying species may weigh very heavily on our collective minds, for good or ill. If what the author stated is true, do we really want to wallow in death and guilt and horror on a daily basis? Will this wake us up and help solve a problem, or will we become increasing callous and disinterested in this particular horror?

This ultimately comes down to how one views the human race: Are we the inheriters of the Earth, free to do with it as we will? Or, are we the stewards of the Earth, responsible for looking out for others species? Or, are we just a cog in the wheel, our actions no more or less unplanned or unintented by Mother Nature?

Health Update - Thirteen Pounds Gone

I received the lab results from my latest round of blood tests, which were conducted last week. Since my original blood test three months ago, which revealed elevated triglyceride levels, I've been doing my best to eat low-fat. Mostly, that's entailed avoiding cheese and deep-fried foods. During this period, I've lost thirteen pounds (two in the last week).

But weight loss wasn't the main goal; it was to reduce my triglycerides. Thus, here are the results from the lab; I've included my cholesterol numbers from this new round of testing, because my triglycerides were so high last time it rendered the cholesterol readings from the first test inaccurate.

Cholesterol: 144 (should be < 200)
    HDL: 27 (>40)
    LDL: 67 (<130)
Triglycerides: 248 (<160)

So, my triglycerides are down from 420, but are still high. Thus, I'll keep doing what I'm doing, but only more of it (try to throw some exercise in there and still keep away from the fat). I've been a little lenient on the cheese restriction, so I'll have to clamp down on that (pizza once a month and parmesean on some pasta as needed).

My HDL (good cholesterol) is low, and the nurse recommended that I eat more fiber to help get this score higher. I haven't seen too much information on fiber increasing HDL levels, so I'm not sure what her suggestion is founded upon. But more fiber isn't a bad thing, so I'll try to comply. And it probably wouldn't hurt to actually exercise, too (just writing about it doesn't seem to help); there is evidence that exercise alone can increase HDL levels.

But I also found some interesting information in an article from the National Business Review (not exactly a major source of health news, I know; emphasis in the quote below is my own):

A May 2001 study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, using subjects with high triglyceride levels, found a diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids and omega-3 fats was far more effective in producing a healthy blood fat profile than the more commonly advocated low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.

After three weeks of the low-fat diet, serum triglyceride levels increased 63%, "bad" LDL cholesterol 19% and, most worrying of all, "good" HDL levels decreased 12%.

In contrast, after three weeks following a diet high in monounsaturated fats and [omega-3 fats], triglyceride levels dropped 63%, total cholesterol 22% and LDL levels 53% while HDL increased 8%.

Recently, numerous studies have examined the effect of adding nuts (rich in monounsaturated fatty acids) to a typical heart healthy diet. Using walnuts or pecan nuts in amounts as small as a quarter of a cup a day had produced significant positive changes to blood fats. By adding as little as 70g of pecan nuts to a low-fat high-carbohydrate diet the usual decline in protective HDL cholesterol was prevented. HDL levels actually increased 5.6%.

Looks like I should also re-focus some energy on what I'm eating. I'm going to do my very best to eat lots of beans, fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and soy.

I've obviously been able to reduce my triglyceride levels a significant amount by avoiding certain foods, and that was the easiest change in behavior for me. However, I still have some work in front of me, especially now that I know that the HDL score is low, too.

As a methodology, making a few small changes and adding others over time seems to be a good way of changing or altering my habits. If I had to give up cheese, fried food, plus exercise, and add/restrict other foods all at the same time, I think it would be too much for me and I would probably be setting myself up to fail.

Anyway, so far so good. Weight is coming off, I'm feeling good, and it looks like my blood profile is becoming healthier. Retest in 6 months.

The Big Series - Results

Well, things went oddly from the begninning, with threatening rain and game-delays and then both teams winning in strange fashion.

Ultimately, the Red Sox didn't do very well, losing two of the three games in New York. As I mentioned in the last post, this is not such a big deal. Odds are, the Red Sox will still make the post-season.

Still, it doesn't bode well that the first series that the Red Sox have lost in about a month was to their arch-rivals. Or that one of their best pitchers was rocked for 8 earned runs. But it was a good sign that the Red Sox were able to win their one game off of one of the Yankees' best pitcher.

But they meet again this coming weekend. If the Sox can win two-of-three at home, that evens things up and this past weekend in New York is rendered meaningless. Especially if the Red Sox actually do make the playoffs.

The Big Series

The Red Sox and Yankees face off this weekend in the first of two three-game series. The Sox are only 3.5 games behind the Yanks for first place in the AL East, but that doesn't matter too much, since the Sox are also 5.5 games in front of the Angels for the Wild Card playoff spot. Thus, with a certain amount of mathematical uncertainty, the Red Sox are in the playoffs regardless of what they do against the Yankees, and vice versa. Other than pride and rivalry, there's not too much at stake in "The Big Series" either this weekend or next.

So a reverse of 1978 cannot happen. And it's all because of the invention of the Wild Card. That's a shame.

That said, I will try and watch as much of the three games as possible and I will probably develop an ulcer while doing so.

Aw, Nuts

The Food and Drug Administration is allowing a qualified health claim on the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids.

Some of the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are:

• improved heart health


• reduced hypertension


• improve depression and symptoms of other mental health problems


• aid cancer prevention and cancer support

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends that fish should be consumed at least twice a week in order to get enough Omega-3 fatty acids. However, as Phil Lempert (food editor from the Today show) says: "The announcement should be considered in conjunction with a report on high levels of toxins in some fish."

But you don't need fish to get your omega-3 fix. There are other safer (and cheaper) food items that are very good sources of omega-3:

Oils
Soybean oil
Walnut oil
Flaxseed oil
Canola oil
Hemp oil

Dark-green vegetables
Kale
Collard greens
Chard
Parsley
Wheat and barley grass

Plants grown in cold climates
Hard red winter wheat
Cold-climate nuts (walnuts in particular)
Flaxseeds
Grains
Legumes
Pumpkin Seeds

Soy and tofu

What Happened?

Lately, Aidan's favorite saying is "what happened?" We could be walking down the street, and the sidewalk is cracked ...

"What happened?"

Or maybe some flowers have lost their petals.

"What happened?"

He also likes to say "what's that?" One might think that "what happened" and "what's that" are interchangeable, but you'd be wrong. I honestly have yet to discern the difference, but there apparently is one. Maybe someday Aidan will explain it.

Another favorite Aidanism is usually heard around bedtime, or bathtime. Basically, whenever we have to take his clothes off. Once the last piece of clothing has come off, he'll raise his arms, probably start jumping or running in place and yell, "naked baby!" Next, he'll run to our bed, all the time squealing "naked baby, naked baby," and then start jumping on the bed....

Health Check Up

I haven't lost any weight in the last two weeks, but I also have been less strict about what I'm eating. For example, I had some pizza and (gasp) some cookies yesterday.

I've been trying to exercise more, and Renee and I have made a promise to each other to try and get out at least once on the weekend to go hiking, or biking or something. We did that yesterday (went on about a three-mile walk), and I was very tired and sore at the end of the day. Heck, I still am sore.

But tomorrow is my follow up appointment to get my triglycerides checked out. Hopefully I'll see an improvement!

Out of Gas

According to a story from MSNBC.com, the world's oil reserves are probably not going to be able to keep up with demand.

In 1956, a Shell Oil geologist accurately predicted that U.S. oil production would peak in 1970. A Princeton University geologist, Kenneth Deffeyes, has applied this same formula to global oil production and predicts "world production to peak around Thanksgiving of 2005, give or take a few weeks."

The problem isn't so much based on the idea that there isn't enough oil in the ground to satisfy demand. The problem is production capacity.

"Production is a pretty firm number," he said. "Oil gets counted twice: once when it gets produced and once when it goes into the refinery. So we pretty much know how much is produced, and my Thanksgiving Day prediction is entirely based on production."

According to the MSNBC article, the global demand for oil is at about 80 million barrels per day. The Oil & Gas Journal indicates that productions levels are maximized at 74 million barrels per day, meaning we are dipping into reserves "at an unprecedented rate." In the not-to-distant future, we may not be able to keep up with demand, even with the aid of reserves.

... the International Energy Agency recently forecast that world oil demand would reach 119 million b/d by 2020.

Clearly a major supply and demand imbalance is in prospect," the report said. "In short, it seems likely that during the first 25 years of this century, we will witness the beginnings of the end of the age of oil. The discussion is not if it will happen, but when."

I would like to know where this topic fits into the Presidential debates ....

Curses!

The Red Sox won last night, and the Yankees had the day off (got rained out), meaning the Sox have closed to within 2 games of first place. A reverse of 1978 is looming large.

And if the good fortunes of the Red Sox coupled with the misfortune of the Yankees isn't enough to give Sox fans hope (we don't need much to encourage us), there's been rumors that The Curse has been lifted.

The Curse, of course, is what happened to the Red Sox when the owner of Ye Olde Town Team sold the best baseball player in the world at the time — Babe Ruth — to the New York Yankees. The Red Sox won the World Series in 1918. Ruth was sold in 1919. The Red Sox haven't won a World Series since. Thus the advent of "The Curse." (Merely losing the best player in baseball wasn't enough.)

But, as Brian McGrory of the Boston Globe writes, there is hope.

[O]n a night when the moon was nearly full, when the Sox continued their epic surge, and when the Yankees suffered the most lopsided defeat in the history of the storied franchise, Ramirez may have unwittingly done what countless others have failed to do before him. He may well have broken the curse under which the team has labored since Ruth was sold to the Yankees in 1919.

A 16-year-old boy stood up in Section 9, Box 95, Row AA, with hopes of catching the ball. But he wasn't just any teenager. No, this was Lee Gavin, who has lived his entire life in a rambling farmhouse on Dutton Road in Sudbury that is best known to anyone west of Boston as the house where Babe Ruth lived.

On this last night of August, Gavin, a right fielder on his summer league team, positioned himself in the aisle, raised his arms in anticipation of catching his first-ever ball at Fenway Park, and BAM! The ball sliced through his hands and hit him square in the face. The impact punctured his top lip and knocked his two front teeth into a deepening pool of blood on the cement ground.

But that's not enough. There needs to be movement on multiple fronts if this curse is to be lifted. The efforts of one 16-year old, while valiant, can't be enough.

Well, luckily, someone found a penny. Finding a penny is good luck, you know that. But that's not all:

[Joseph] Coen and John Redding ... received what they interpret as an irrefutable sign yesterday, just before the Red Sox took on the Texas Rangers: a 1918 penny stuck to the counter of their Heineken and Miller beer stand.

And we all remember who is on the penny .... Honest Abe.

Changing of the Guard?

Since the beginning of September, the Red Sox have gone 6-1. And these games have been played against some of the hottest teams in the league, the Rangers, Angels, and A's. The Yankees have played well too, going 5-2 so far this month, but there seems to be a bit of panic in their clubhouse. This is usually what happens to the Red Sox. But not this year.

The Red Sox are a mere 2.5 games out of first place and are doing quite well against three high-quality teams. Meanwhile, the Yankees are losing ground while they play a much softer schedule. And the frustration is begining to show.

One of the better Yankee pitchers (Kevin Brown) was so frustrated at his performance that he punched a wall ... and broke his hand. Now he won't be able to play for several weeks and may end up missing the entire rest of the season. I'm sure his teammates will understand why he won't be able to help win some games down the stretch. Their already depleted starting pitching took a big hit with the injury to Brown, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Someone the other day asked me why I didn't like the Yankees. A somewhat rational answer was required here, as this person wouldn't have accepted because-I'm-a-Red-Sox-fan-and-that's-the-way-it-is type answer. And, to be honest, I don't think I really knew the answer, other than the one I just mentioned.

After thinking about it for about two seconds I realized it's because they are the embodiment of the stereotypical bad American: arrogant, greedy, corporate, gluttonous, money-fixes-everything.

And then, another reason, a specific reason was presented. The Yankees were supposed to play a double-header with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but the D-Rays were stuck in Florida because of the hurricane. Since the D-Rays were late for the first game, the Yankees asked the Commissioner of Baseball to award them a forfeit. Wow. How humble. How sportsman like. How desperate are they that they need to try and get a win any way that they can?

Rinse it Off

We were trying to get ready to go swimming after work the other day, but neither Renee or I wanted to make dinner. We proposed going to a restaurant, but Aidan was dragging his feet and we felt that we wouldn't be able to get to a restaurant and then the pool in time. So we made something at home quickly, ate, and then prepared for the pool.

But Aidan was still dragging his feet. He didn't seem to want to go. Once we finally got him to accept the plan of going to the pool, we then had to try to convince him to put his swimsuit on. He was holding his swimsuit and being rather difficult about the proceedure.

"No! Rinse iod!" Aidan cried.

"Rinse it off?" I asked, not sure what Aidan wanted nor, if I was correct, what we were supposed to rinse off.

"No!" Aidan cried back, obviously frustrated with my in ability to understand. "Rinse riod!"

"I, um ... I don't know. Do you want to rinse off your swimsuit? Renee? Do you understand?"

"Do you want to take it off?" Renee suggested.

"Noooo! Rinseriut!" By now Aidan was crying enough were it was difficult to understand him anyway, but we still had no clue.

"Aidan, calm down. We'll figure it out. What is it that you want. Don't cry, because we can't understand you when you cry."

After a couple of deep breaths, he tried again, "rinse-ee-want, mommy."

Ah. Restaurant. Right. He doesn't want to "rinse it off." Now that we've finished dinner, he wants to go to the restaurant. Of course.

21 & 22

Since the Red Sox dumped Nomar at the beginning of August, they have been on a tear, winning 21 of their 28 games.

At the beginning of August, the Red Sox were not in very good position to make the post-season. Those fortunes have changed, but maybe not as much as one might think. While the Red Sox won an American League-best 21 games in the month of August, their closest competition for the last playoff spot, the Angels, won 19 games, not allowing the Sox to get much of an advantage in the standings.

However, thanks to a bit of bad luck in New York (the Yankees went 16-12 in August), the Red Sox have managed to take what was a large 10.5 game gap and reduced it to a very manageable 3.5 games. As a (hopefully) telling sign of the problems the Yankees are facing, they suffered their worst loss ever, 22-0 to the Cleveland Indians on August 31, the very night that the Red Sox beat the Angels for their 21st victory of the month. Not exactly the statement I'm sure the Yankees were hoping to make as their arch-rivals close in.

There are only five weeks left in the season, and it is not unreasonable to think that the Red Sox could make up about one game a week on the first-place team from New York and win the division. If the Yankees keep on their current course, it is likely that they will not only lose the division to the Red Sox, but maybe also lose a spot in the post-season to the surging Angels.

IF this happens (and this is a big if), this would set an historical precident. Never in the 103-year history of the Red Sox (or so say the experts) have they come back to win their division after trailing by 10 games or more. Never have the Yankees lost their division after leading it by 6 games or more.

Of course, the opposite has happened. The Red Sox had a 10-game lead over the second-place Milwaukee Brewers (and a 14-game lead on the Yankees) in 1978; the Yankees stormed back to win the division in what is now a legendary collapse by the Red Sox.

Maybe the Fates have turned a merciful look towards the Red Sox? I don't know. All that I really hope for is a playoff berth, which means we need to beat the Angels. Slipping past the Yankees in the standings doesn't really create any extra benefits other than the pride of being in front of them in the standings.

September is the last month of the season. It's down to the wire. The Red Sox and Yankees face each other 6 more times before the season it over and face the Angels twice more (tonight and tomorrow). We shall see ....