SwampLog 3.0

Nnnoooooooo!

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

The following image was published by Moriarty on AintItCool.com this morning, supposedly from the upcoming 'Star Wars' trilogy DVD set. It makes my head hurt.

[Picture removed because it was, in fact, a hoax. Not worth the time.]

If it's not a hoax, it's just as bad -- potentially worse -- than Greedo shooting first.

Just stop, George! Just stop! You're screwing with our childhood memories. Leave your movies alone.

This reminds me of the disorder that some people have where they have to have plastic surgery all of the time (I think someone postulated that Michael Jackson might have this going on in that head of his). Is George so embarrassed with his movies that he has to tinker with all of them?

There are rumors that there are more "changes" coming in the Trilogy. Great googah-moogah, I hope they're wrong.

Car Wreck

We were sitting in the press box at the Frisco RoughRiders' ball park (the unwieldly-named Dr. Pepper / 7-Up Park) when the TV in the booth, tuned to headline News, ran the banner "Website Shows Beheading." The sound was down, so we didn't have any context of it. I thought it was some twisted teenager who had gone too damned far.

I wish I was right.

Nicholas Berg was decapitated with a butcher knife. And, just to make sure the horror of it hits home, they posted it online for everyone to see.

When I got home, after getting caught up on 'The Sopranos' and '24,' I checked my e-mail, and there it was. A link to a mirrored copy of the clip.

This wasn't some 'Faces of Death' hoax, or ILM stunt. This WMV file contained the last minute of Nick Berg's life. And my cursor was hovering over it.

There are people in America who will try and palm this off as another casualty of the War On Terror©, a man who was made an example by the "evildoers" that we're trying to vanquish. There's a family in Pennsylvania who doesn't have a son, because he wanted to try and help fix what Dick Cheney just had to break.

I clicked on the link. And my stomach is churning.

There's Berg, telling about his family and where he lives. Then, the video cuts away to Berg seated on the floor, legs underneath him, and five masked gunmen, with the one in the middle reading a statement in Arabic. Berg looks nervous, but doesn't look like he knows he's about to die.

At four minutes in to the clip, the connection dies. Berg is still alive, sitting on the floor. And something in the back of my head is mad that there isn't any more video.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Why did I even click the link in the first place? Why do I even want to see a man hold up Nicholas Berg's head to the camera? Am I so de-sensitized to the act of killing another human being that I want to see him die?

I quit out of Windows Media Player, deleted the e-mail. And still feel like throwing up.

Damn.

He doesn't post anything for months -- MONTHS! -- and yet he makes sure I know what it felt like to sell beer at a ball park. I am entirely green with envy. Good on ya, M.

Tony Clifton Wouldn't Buy It

From the VH1 blog attached to their 'Best Week Ever": There's a party scheduled for May 16 in Los Angeles, which marks the 20th anniversary of Andy Kaufman's death. Trick is, if Andy didn't die, as many of his fans maintain, he's supposed to show up at this gathering and start over.

As much as the left side of my brain wants to say it's just a way for Bob Zmuda to raise money for Comic Relief... what if?

A Piece Of History

I'm holding the final ticket with "The Ballpark In Arlington" printed on it.
(Okay, it's the cover sheet for the tables on the Glass, but it still counts
in my mind, since it came out of the ticket printer.)

Talk to Me, Goose

When 'E.R.' killed off Anthony Edwards' Dr. Greene, there was this amazingly simple rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" played over his last minutes. The song was performed by Hawaiian artist Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, and is coupled with "What a Wonderful World." The iTunes Music Store now carries that song, and you should get it immediately. It's beautiful.

Overheard

M: So, I'm thinking about going to the game Sunday.  When is it?
D: 1:05 first pitch.  Detroit.
M: Dammit.  I can't go, then.
D: Why?  too early?
M: Nope -- you know why.  At the bottom of the battery is "...Ivan Rodriguez."
D: Please.  You went last year when he came back to town.
M: Doesn't matter!  That was Florida.  National League.
D: C'mon, dude.  Detroit is barely American League.  They have a Designated Wanna-Be Hitter.

Coming Up Close

It's a chilly Saturday morning. Hard rain last night postponed the Rangers / Red Sawks game. I'm holed up at Rawlings out at the Ballpark, trying to get their booth system set up to talk to the outside world.

A friend from Boston told me about a book called The Artist's Way, which details methods to make your creativity work for you, not against you. I'm buying the book Monday morning.

It's not that nothing's been happening in my life -- it's been incredibly busy, but not to the point where I haven't been able to sit down and write something every day. I just feel like I'm saying the same thing over and over again: I'm working myself to death; Bush has to go; I heard this great new song. There was a time, not too long ago, when I was able to wax prolifically about anything that catches my eye.

Not so much, these days. If I do get an idea, something that makes me say to myself, "I need to write a SwampLog entry about this," it's out of my head before I can find a piece of paper. Perhaps I need to start carrying around a PDA again, just to jot stuff down. Get better about being creative for myself, not just my jobs.

If you've got some time to kill at work or at home, you should give the Hot Corner a listen. It's the web radio show produced by DallasBaseballHome.com (hosted by yours truly), and the show we did last week was just excellent. Jamey Newberg, Sunni Cranfill and Scott Franzke were all phenomenal guests, and the shows were a blast to do.

Also, I'm starting to sell off somesports memorabilia. My eBay page is here, and I'll be adding a new item each day for the next couple of weeks. Make some bids, you monkeys!