Strollerderby : a-rod

Morning News - Astronauts Watch Star Trek In Space

Brett Singer — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:01:00 GMT

You are either tired of hearing me talking about "Star Trek", or you can't get enough of it. It's like Kirk vs. Spock in "The Apple", a classic episode of the original series. Actually, it's not really like that very much at all, but saying that it was allowed me to get in another "Trek" mention. Sorry.

Anyway, even if you don't care about "Star Trek", you may still think that this is cool -- Real Live Astronauts are Watching ‘Star Trek’ in Outer Space - Right Now. Actually, it happened on Friday, but perhaps due to a singularity created by red matter, it's possible that the astroanuts are, in fact, watching the movie as you read this. Unlikely. But possible.

Moving on to a topic I don't really understand, how about some international economic news? The Motley Fool tells us Why China's Stimulus Plan Will Change the World. Um, OK. Remember when you thought putting 20 bucks a week into your savings account was a solid method of planning for the future?

Barack Obama spoke at Notre Dame, which was a big deal because he is pro-choice. MSNBC says that he called "for 'fair-minded' abortion debate." So they booed him. Not everybody, of course.

David Geffen may want to buy the New York Times. I hope someone does. The idea of the Times going under is something I have trouble with. It's not just the paper, it's the reporters behind it. Sure, they may have made mistakes. But it's a great institution that should live on. So if selling it to a massively successful music and movie mogul is the way to do that, I say "whoo-hoo."

Swine flu, or H1N1, is still here. CNN reports that a "New York middle school assistant principal who was hospitalized with the H1N1 virus died Sunday. BUT he might not have died of swine flu. They won't tell us. Fun. Keep sanitizing the children, and yourself.

David Wells, who has both pitched a perfect game and attacked someone at a diner while drunk (allegedly), says that any home runs that Alex Rodriguez -- aka "The Rod" -- hit while he was taking steroids shouldn't count. Wells was a great pitcher when he was sober (allegedly) but he's got a big mouth. I never liked The Rod, but Wells just rubs me the wrong way.

OK, getting back to movie news, "Angels & Demons" took the number one spot at the box office this week with $48 million, despite generally bad reviews and a complete lack of facial expressions from Tom Hanks. "Star Trek" was close behind ( like a Klingon Bird of Prey) with $43 million, and "Wolverine" dropped to third with only $14.8 million. I saw "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" this weekend, mostly beacuse it was playing nearby at a convenient time. It wasn't as good as it should have been. It's sort of a real-life "This Is Spinal Tap", except that when you watch actual 50-year-olds who never made it in the music business still trying to make it, it can get a little depressing. Also, the film itself was too long (even though it was only 90 minutes) and didn't dig deep enough to hold my interest. Oh well. At least I got to see a movie in a theater with my wife, which happens far too infrequently. And the sushi we had before the film was really good. So there's that.

More tomorrow...

Image: Wikipedia

The Chubbiest Cheeks You Will Ever See

UPDATE: Dad Who Forced Son To Get Tattoo is Arrested

Top Cause of Death for Pregnant Women is Murder

Mom Puts 9 Year Old Girl On Craigs List For Revenge

Morning News - March Madness or March Sadness?

Brett Singer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:00:00 GMT

Apologies for forgetting St. Patrick's Day yesterday. I could make a culturally insensitive joke and say that I was drunk, but the truth is I just forgot. Apparently everybody was Irish on Tuesday, but today you're back to whatever it is you are the rest of the year.

Speaking of being culturally insensitive, it's a St. Paddy's Day tradition for the current Irish leader to bring the U.S. President a bowl of shamrocks. Faith and begorrah, laddie! Why doesn't he just dress up like the Lucky Charms mascot and dance an Irish jig on the White House lawn?

A group in Boston conducted a survey of local teens and asked them about Chris Brown and Rihanna. The results? Forty-six percent thought the beating Brown allegedly gave Rihanna "was Rihanna's fault, and fifty-two percent said it was both Rihanna and Brown's fault. Fifty-one percent blamed Brown." Wow. This story gets more depressing by the minute. I'm increasingly of the opinion that there are a lot of guys out there who think it's acceptable to hit a woman if she, you know, just doesn't listen or something. Scary thought.

In goofier entertainment news: Wow, Harry Connick Jr. got fat. I know that doesn’t really matter, but women are usually the target of this sort of nonsense, so I thought I'd share a pic of a famous guy who got caught lookin' chunky on the beach.

I'm not sure what it means when Judge Judy makes more sense than most of the people who talk about the state of our world today. It may be a sign of the apocalypse. Granted, anyone can look good next to Larry King, but Judge Judy sounds quite reasonable here.

There's a six-year-old boy out there with a 176 IQ. At that level, shouldn't he be able to move objects with his mind or something? (Oh, and I bet his father was young.) When you see a story like this, do you look at your own kids and say, "Why can't you be that smart?" Yeah, me neither.

February saw an increase in the number of new homes being constructed, aka "housing starts." Here's the headline, which is pretty typical these days: "Housing starts take surprising jump in Feb. / But can gains continue amid all the housing industry's woes?" It’s like giving a child a piece of chocolate cake and then telling him you might have dropped it in the sink. Or that the frosting is actually made with carob. (Remember carob? It was supposed to be healthier than chocolate. I think people stopped using it in the 1970's.) Just once I'd like to get a piece of good news without being told, "hey, it's good, but don't expect it to last."

Alex Rodriguez, whom I refer to as The Rod, has revealed his true talent -- being annoying both on and off the field. I mean, how is it that the highest paid player in baseball isn’t playing and is on the cover of Details magazine with the headline, "A-Rod: Confessions of a Damned Yankee"? Yes, the cover was planned before he had his surgery. But what the hell, dude?

And finally, March Madness has arrived. If you're like me and have no officemates to play with (let's call it March Sadness), you can make a bracket at NYTimes.com and compete against random people for an Amazon Kindle, which is a nice prize. And CNET has a list of several NCAA-related websites to choose from. The tournament starts tomorrow (Thursday March 19), so get your bracket ready if you want to play. It's like the stock market, only more fun and with less sweating.

Image: CNET

Half of Kids Surveyed Think Rihanna Had it Coming

6-Year-Old Boy has 176 I.Q., Bums out Entire Adult Population

GMA Tweets Details On Levi Johnston And Son

Jimmy Kimmel And The Octomom

Morning News - Cheney, Duct Tape, Outer Space

Is it Time to Give up on Athletes as Child Role Models?

JeanneSager — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:24:00 GMT

A-Roid. Stoner Phelps. It's been a bad couple of weeks for our so-called role models.

But Alex Rodriguez was hardly the first star to be caught 'roiding it up and Michael Phelps has a long line of disgraced Olympians ahead of him (including athletes who were doped up DURING the games, not just smoking it up six months after the games).

So is it time we put that old "athletes are our kids' best role models" horse back into the barn?

Because when a player walks out onto a field, court, diamond, pitch . . . they aren't being paid to make kids like them. They're being paid to win a game.

The Yankees don't pick a third baseman based on a history of helping old ladies across the street or even a stellar credit rating. They pick a guy who can hit homeruns, a guy who can whip the ball back to first when pressure's on to keep the tying run off base. In short, they hire an athlete, not a man.

The man - or woman - who plays a professional sport or makes it to the top of the amateur world has something the rest of us don't - talent. It's impressive, sure. And without drive and amibition - both traits we'd like to see in our kids - it would be worth nothing. Still, it's not the answer to making our kids better people. It's inate, something few people are lucky enough to be born with, and few of our kids will ever have.

So why do we push them to focus on athletes? Some of the best in the world were hardly stellar people. Mickey Mantle was an incredible baseball player (and as a die-hard Yankee fan, one of my favorites). But the Mick was also a womanizing alcoholic. By contrast, his dear friend Roger Maris was another stellar athlete, the first to hit sixty-one home runs - without a needle in sight. And he was demonized by the media for his simple, quiet ways, for being the sort of man most of us probably WOULD like our kids to grow up to be - a man who focused on his family, who was honest, who lived a clean life.

The problem with putting athletes on pedestals, is simple. They weren't vetted as child role models. They were vetted as athletes. Anything more is just a bonus.

Image: AllTalkSports

UPDATE: A-Roid Admits It

Brett Singer — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:00:00 GMT

UPDATE: A-Rod (A-Roid, A-Fraud - I still like The Rod, but it's not sticking yet) has admitted to ESPN's Peter Gammons that, you know, he did it. Children everywhere are... actually, I don't think children care about this at all.

When I was a young Yankee fan, my guy was Reggie Jackson. All I cared about was how he played. Granted, it was a different time, but despite all of the posturing from commentators I don't think kids care much about whether or not The Rod was juicing. Maybe I'm wrong.

Original post follows:

*-*-*

SI.com is reporting that Alex Rodriguez, whom I usually refer to as "The Rod", tested positive for two different anabolic steroids, Primobolan and testosterone, back in 2003. (Make up your own joke about Alex taking testosterone.)

What does this have to do with parenting? Well, somewhat like the Plaxico Burress gun incident ("Safety? What's a safety?"), kids who are into sports, and even those that aren't, will hear this news. What do you tell them? If you go with the "tut-tut" sanctimony of Major League Baseball and the seemingly endless parade of columnists and talk show hosts, then you have to tell them that The Rod is a big fat cheater. That's the word that has been assigned to steroid users. Cheaters. At least it’s a word that even little kids understand. You know, because it's childish.

If you want to go with a calmer explanation, you could say that The Rod made a mistake and we don't have all the facts yet. (Probably better to call him A-Rod, since I'm the only one that calls him The Rod.) Columnist Chris Ballard says that "All of A-Rod's achievements, past and future, will be tainted." First of all, what if the report was wrong? I'm not saying it was, but sometimes reporters, sources or no, make mistakes. Also, we're slamming the guy for doing something that may not even be against the law because he "tainted" the "purity" of baseball. That seems like a pretty bad message to send to kids, frankly.

Ultimately, baseball is a game. Professional baseball, like all professional sports, is a business. In recent years it has become a huge business, one that allows someone like The Rod to earn almost $30 million in one year. That's just his salary, by the way. He probably made a lot more in endorsements, autograph signings, and other things. Sports figures are no longer on the same playing field as the rest of us, if they ever were. (Pun unintended.) Kids should be allowed to enjoy the game without the braying sanctimony of adults who appear desperate to believe that baseball is more important than it is. Sports can bring great enjoyment to fans young and old. When you try to pretend that these people are something more than human, any fall from grace will be a huge disappointment.

For the record, I am a lifelong Yankee fan and I never liked The Rod. (Give me Scott Brosius any day of the week.) I also don't much care about steroids. I think Major League Baseball helped create this problem by preferring profits to players' health; there were multiple times when guys were obviously juiced up and no one said anything about it, sanctimonious commentators included. And I never thought I'd say this, but I'm a little bit glad that my son isn't a big baseball fan. Explaining Plaxico's gun was easier than this will be.

Image/Source: SI.com

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Pittsburgh Schools Open Late Day After Super Bowl

Is The Peanut Allergy Scare Overblown?

Octuplet Mom Wants TV Career

Babble Podcast for December 15, 2008

Brett Singer — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:12:00 GMT

Here is the seventh Babble Podcast.

You can either listen right here

or download the MP3 file by clicking here.

On today's episode:

1.    Quick news update:
       - Shoes thrown at the President. It's not funny. Well, it was a little funny. And strange.
       - Big time fraud report: Bernard L. Madoff, Marc S. Dreier, and Rod Blagojevich.
         Rod isn't really a fraud case, I guess. But it fits.

2. The Week in Blog
- Kid hangs with an orangutan, a medic alert bracelet that's fashionable, Kerri Russel stripping.Well, not stripping exactly. Strips down. Whatever, just listen.

3. Comment of the Week
- Can we tie Rod Blagojevich to Obama? No? Can we try?

4. The Last Word
- Memo to McCain supporters: he lost. Obama won. Election's over. Deal with it.

Notes on this podcast:

Songs parodied:

- Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's

Just the one this week, but it is an epic tale of true love between a New York Yankee third baseman and one of the most popular pop stars of all time. Both of whom have young kids and should probably stop being so irritating in the public eye. All the time.

Posts mentioned:

Toddler Befriends an Orphaned Baby Orangutan

Bronx, Zuma Don't Make Top 2008 Baby Names List

A Guy’s Take on Stay at Home Moms and Dads (Part 1: The Cons)

Babysitter Made Pornographic Film With 2 Year Old

Students Watch Autopsy of Teen From School

Sweet Angel Child's Bracelet

Stuffed Alphabet Set

Stylish Medical Alert Bracelet

Details: Keri Russell Strips Down

Confirmed: She's Pregnant!

Kate Winslet Keeps Nude Scenes Real

Morning news: What's the Matter with Illinois?

Half Price Toys at Target

Movie Review – "Delgo"

Announce Your New Addition With Panties: Male Perspective

New Zealand Girl Treated Successfully With Cord Blood

Rite Aid Says They Will Stop Selling Expired Baby Products

Past Podcasts:

Babble Podcast for December 8, 2008

Babble Podcast for November 24, 2008

Babble Podcast for November 17, 2008

Best of FameCrawler: Week of December 5th

Whit Honea — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Tom Cruise Has Creepy Ideas

What's In Christina Aguilera's Locket?

A-Rod Cheating on Madonna With Melissa Britos? (Photos)

Matthew McConaughey Going Bongo in Brazil

Britney's Hidden Messages: Bringing New Meaning To The Term 'MILF'

MC Breed Has Died

Gwen Stefani and the Men in Her Life - Photos

Jennifer Hudson's Brother-In-Law Arrested For Murder Of Family

NBC is Pissed: Britney Cancels Performance at Last Second

Clay Aiken is a Push-Over

From Fat To Fab: Ricki Lake Lost 140 Pounds!

Guess Which Gossip Girl Is Pregnant?

Alex Rodriguez Writing Love Poems To Madonna

Brett Singer — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Ah, The Rod. He makes it almost too easy.

The New York Post, along with every other media outlet on the planet, reports that The Rod has found his muse. No, it's not Derek Jeter. It's Madonna. He's writing her (hang on, I need to stop laughing… OK. OK, I'm back.) love poems.

What must that sound like?

madonna
I am in love with u
I am intrigued by all the things that u do
please teach me how I can be a better jew
madonna

Love, Alex

I've said it before, and I'll say it again – oy vey.

Now, to be serious for a minute, both Madonna and The Rod need to calm down. I don't really care if they're dating. OK, I care a little bit, since I enjoy making fun of The Rod, and as a Yankee fan, I would greatly prefer it if he concentrated more on PLAYING BASEBALL than on whatever the hell he's up to off the field. But both of these people have young children. Madonna's daughter Lourdes is old enough read the papers, and so is her son Rocco. Why would you want to put your kids through this crap?

There's always the chance that Madonna has, in fact, lost her mind. According to various sources (including our very own Famecrawler), Madonna instituted strict rules for when daddy Guy Ritchie has the kids. For example:

Their hands should be regularly cleaned with disinfectant spray if they are in public places.
They should not be bought toys that are spiritually or ethically unsound.
Guy should not discuss the separation with them.
All water they drink, even when it is to dilute organic juice, should be Kabbalah water.

I bet Halloween at her house is real fun. Maybe too much publicity is the least of these kids' problems.

Source: NY Post (also image), Famecrawler

Rocco Ritchie wears Yankee shirt, Guy Ritchie weeps

Madonna Rules The Roost From Across The Pond

The Obamas wear cheap clothes

Madonna Pisses Off Guy, Pulls Lourdes Out of School

Why Are The Grown Up Costumes For Women So Slutty?

Another non news photo

The Candy That Time Forgot

Is Sarah Palin the next Oprah?

More Bad Halloween Costumes for Kids

The Smurfs Turn 50

Jay Thomas Reunites With Out of Wedlock Son

Sarah Palin Gets Pranked By Canadian Radio Hosts – Video

Will Madonna Have a Baby With A-Rod?

JeanneSager — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:43:00 GMT

She's divorcing her husband (and natural father of one of her kids), accusing him of saying she looked like a "granny," but Madonna says she's ready to have another child. With New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.

Say what? OK, try to keep up people.

A-Rod and Madonna denied they were having an affair back in July when he and wife Cynthia split. Rumors swirled Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie were splitting then, but they insisted it was all speculation. Fast forward to this month and, surprise, surprise, Madonna and Guy are getting a divorce (shocking, I know). Oh, and she allowed herself to be seen in public with Stray-Rod. Now Guy's dad is calling her beastly, her adopted son's father says she's not doing a good job parenting his kid, and the Daily Mail of London says she's ready (at 50) to have Alex's baby. Phewww.

That would make Madonna mom to four (five if you count the daughter she's in the process of adopting from Malawi) and Rodriguez a father of three. Setting aside the fact that she's 50 and might not be able to conceive (the material girl's got the money to make medical miracles happen people), does she really think this is the best parenting move? She's got three kids who have had to endure publicity of their births, clothes, and mother's sex life (very graphic sex life), and now she wants to add a baby brother or sister into the mix? With a guy she's dated for, oh, four months (sorry, I don't believe for a second that they were "just friends" back in July)?

Or is this just more Madonna, pushing everything over the borderline?

Image: New York Post (Madonna at a Yankees game with son David)

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Lindsay Lohan Wants to Adopt, At Least She Won't be Passing on the Genes

Best of FameCrawler: Week of July 25th

Whit Honea — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Pregnant Man Shares Baby Photos & Baby Name

Angie and Brad Couldn't Get It Done on Their Own?

Mindy McCready: Miscarriage?

What is Wrong With Katie Holmes?

2008 Emmy Nominations: Five Drama Mamas

Sex Tape: A-Rod and Madonna!

Maggie Gyllenhaal on Letterman- He Wishes

Jennifer Garner's Baby Bump: She's Pregnant Alright

Bob Geldof's Daughter Peaches' Drug Overdose

Brad Pitt Pulls A Britney

Jennifer Aniston, Oh So Gracious

Ashlee Simpson's C-Section

Best of FameCrawler: Week of July 4th

Whit Honea — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Jennifer Aniston-Mama To Be?

A-Rod's Wife Cynthia Rodriguez Dating Madonna's Ex Lenny Kravitz

Christina Aguilera Keeps Marriage Alive With Cocktails

Remember When Entertainment Tonight Insisted That The Brangelina Twins Were Already Born...?

Nicole Kidman's Heartbreak

Birth for Angelina Jolie? They Say it Happened!

Cindy Brady Gone Wild!

OMG! Britney Has A Boyfriend - You'll Never Guess!

Gwyneth Paltrow, Without Pants

Guy Ritchie's Mother Is Fuming Over Madonna Divorce Talk

Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber Expecting Baby #2

Maggie Gyllenhaal Makes Choices With Ramona In Mind