Thursday, November 30, 2006

Dial 'M' for Magnificent
My CD collection is organized by genre, and by personal preference within each genre. The four genres are Ska, Punk, Rock 'n' Roll That's Neither Ska Nor Punk, and Soundtracks and Comedy Albums. The music within my iTunes library is organized alphabetically by band, alphabetically by album within each band's catalogue, and by original track numbering within each album. I am unacccustomed to seeing my music presented in such a fashion, but it is not without its advantages. As a result of today's contribution to the ongoing effort to rip all of my CDs into my iTunes library, I now have the pleasant troika of Mu330, Mustard Plug, and MxPx (and only four random songs separating The Mighty Mighty Bosstones from Mu330). Rock!

Samples
Ska - The Aquabats!, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish
Punk - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, MxPx, The Ramones
Neither - Barenaked Ladies, Fountains of Wayne, They Might Be Giants
Soundtracks - The Blues Brothers Original Soundtrack Recording, Josie and the Pussycats - Music From the Motion Picture, No Cure For Cancer

Fire Millen
There are, in the famous words of a man whose name I do not know, at least not in connection with these famous words, "lies, damned lies, and statistics." We all know numbers may be twisted and their original meaning perverted to serve some sinister end just as easily and convincingly as words may be twisted. And numbers may also speak the truth as plainly as well-chosen words. In his time with the New England Patriots, Tom brady has posted a 66-23 record in the regular season as the starting quarterback (he is 10-1 in the playoffs for a cumulative record of 76-24). In the time Matt Millen has been the czar of the Detroit Lions, the team has posted a regular season record of 23-68 (Millen's Lions are 0-0 in the playoffs for a cumulative record of 23-68).

Tom Brady: 66-23, Matt Millen: 23-68. It could be argued that Millen is almost exactly as bad as Tom Brady is good. And Tom Brady is very, very good; Tom Brady is going to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Perhaps we should found a Hall of Infamy for players, coaches, and front office staff of Matt Millen's caliber? Oh, wait, in the entire history of the NFL, no team has posted a six-year record as bad as Millen's Detroit Lions. Not the '70s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, not the '80s Detroit Lions, not the New Orleans Saints. Hooray, we'll be the centerpiece of the Hall of Infamy!

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