I haven’t blogged for a few weeks now, but I needed to comment on my newest musical find — Battles. It’s not that they’re a new band and, if not for me, they’d go unnoticed, but I’m just now discovering them and, although they’re a bit on the esoteric side, they’re definitely “prog rock for the new millennium,” if you will. I hear Rush from Counterparts, Blue Man Group, Pat Metheny on Zero Tolerance for Silence, Alvin and The Chipmunks (no David Seville, however), and a bunch of other tones on the record Mirrored. It’s a crazy album, but you have to give it a shot…please!

Guess when you drop three of four to the lowly Nationals (five out of seven for the year, I believe), someone’s gotta get sacked (as they say in Britain).

Later, Phil…it’s been real. Hi-dee ho to the original Cecil (not that fat dude whose first name was pronounced oddly, whose kid is blowin’ up for the Brew Crew this year [a good chunk of that for my fantasy team {i.e., before I traded him in a "rebuilding" move}]), and whose kid doesn’t show him any love whatsoever).

The ’70s saw such great facial hair, didn’t they? The Pirates uniforms, however, were a different story; Garner looks like he’s doing touch-ups on some rich family’s foyer w/ that cap on. Either that or Wee Willie Keeler’s batting behind him.

More extremely questionable sports couture here (courtesy of ESPN’s Page 2).

(Don’t answer that – it’s a rhetorical question, thank you very much.)

http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/index.cfm?action=press_release&ID=823

My highlights added

August 15, 2007

SURVEY REVEALS MOST AMERICANS CAN’T NAME NATION’S FOUNDING FATHERS

- Presidential $1 Coin Featuring Thomas Jefferson Rolls into Circulation Tomorrow -

WASHINGTON (August 15, 2007) – A survey commissioned by the United States Mint has found that most Americans don’t know that Thomas Jefferson was the Nation’s third President and a shockingly small number could name the first four Presidents in order. The United States Mint released the findings of the Presidential $1 Coin Survey, as the third Presidential $1 Coin featuring Jefferson heads into circulation nationwide tomorrow.

“That’s what’s great about the Presidential $1 Coin Program,” said United States Mint Director Ed Moy in an event today for the new Jefferson coin at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. “This series of circulating coins provides the perfect opportunity for Americans to learn more about our Presidents and the critical role they played in some of our Nation’s historic milestones.”

Only 7 percent of those surveyed could name the Nation’s first four Presidents in order: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. When asked specifically about Thomas Jefferson, only 30 percent knew that he was our Nation’s third President. However, slightly more than half of Americans, 57%, knew that Thomas Jefferson was the main author of the Declaration of Independence, the Presidential $1 Coin Survey revealed.

The United States Mint celebrated the new Thomas Jefferson $1 Coin by allowing visitors to the Jefferson Memorial to exchange dollar bills for the new coins one day ahead of their official release nationwide. Thomas Jefferson re-enactors walked among the crowd, quizzing them on their Presidential knowledge.

The public may obtain Thomas Jefferson $1 Coins at most banks and financial institutions throughout the country tomorrow, Thursday, August 16, 2007. Thomas Jefferson $1 Coins in collector bags and rolls will be available for purchase on the United States Mint’s website, http://www.usmint.gov/, at 12:00 noon (ET) on August 16.

Survey Findings:
The Presidential $1 Coin Survey, commissioned by the United States Mint, also found:

· Only 22 percent of Americans know that there have been 43 U.S. Presidents to date.

· Only 21 percent of Americans know that the faces of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt are carved on Mount Rushmore.

· Only 35 percent of Americans surveyed knew Thomas Jefferson is featured on the nickel.

· Only 28 percent of Americans surveyed knew that John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the original father-son pair of Presidents.

· However, 68 percent of Americans surveyed knew that George Washington led the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

To help Americans brush up on their Presidential history, the United States Mint provides a number of educational materials on its website, including: downloadable lesson plans for teachers and parents; background information on the Presidents featured in the Presidential $1 Coin Program; and other fun, educational and interactive options. Information and materials are free and readily available at http://www.usmint.gov/.

Historic Change
The United States Mint inaugurated the Presidential $1 Coin series with the George Washington $1 Coin in February 2007. The John Adams $1 Coin followed in May.

More than half a billion George Washington and John Adams $1 Coins have been ordered to date by the Federal Reserve for circulation. Public awareness of the new Presidential $1 Coins has tripled from approximately 18 percent in November 2006, when the designs of the coins were unveiled, to 64 percent in June 2007.

The obverse (heads side) of the Thomas Jefferson $1 Coin was designed and sculpted by Joe Menna, a United States Mint Medallic Artist. The reverse (tails side) on all the Presidential $1 Coins is a magnificent image of the Statue of Liberty, designed and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart.

The United States Mint is offering financial institutions and retail businesses free informational materials via http://www.usmintinfo.gov/$1coin. Students, teachers, parents and educational organizations also can access lesson plans and other free educational tools on the same website.

Congress authorized and President Bush signed the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005. The Act requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins honoring the United States Presidents in the order in which they served, with four new designs annually.

Each President will be honored with a single Presidential $1 Coin, regardless of the number of consecutive terms he served, except for Grover Cleveland, the only U.S. President to serve non-consecutive terms. He will be honored on two coins. No living, former or current President can be honored on a Presidential $1 Coin.

I’m sure that I’m a bit biased as I was an American history major in college and have always found the subject easy, but…

COME ON, PEOPLE!

YOU’RE KILLIN’ ME HERE!

Anyhow, here goes nothin’…

Mark Wills’ List of Goals

(8.13.07-8.15.07)

1. Get married – and stay married.

2. Have happy and healthy children (probably no more than two).

3. Be able to pay for my children’s college tuition in full.

4. Buy a house.

5. Buy a “getaway” place (e.g., cabin, condo on the beach).

6. Buy a new car.

7. Buy an “expensive” car (i.e., more than $50,000 [in 2007 dollars]).

8. Get a graduate degree.

9. Play/sing in a rock band.

10. Learn to play electric bass.

11. Write a song and perform it in a “professional” setting (e.g., a gig).

12. Get training in music theory.

13. Record a demo.

14. Weigh 175 pounds.

15. Meet Donald Fagen and/or Walter Becker.

16. Publish a short story.

17. Publish a magazine article.

18. Publish a book.

19. Public a poem.

20. Meet a sitting President of the United States.

21. Eat at the White House.

22. Catch a foul ball and/or home run at a Major League game.

23. Attend a World Series game.

24. Go to the World Cup.

25. Go to the Summer Olympics.

26. Attend an English Premier League match.

27. See an FA Cup Final.

28. See a Champions League Final.

29. Run and complete a 5K race.

30. Run and complete a 10K race.

31. Run and complete a half marathon.

32. Run and complete a marathon.

33. Visit Holland.

34. Visit England.

35. Visit Italy (again).

36. Visit Australia.

37. Visit Iceland.

38. Be my own boss.

39. Visit Alaska.

40. Take care of my parents the best I can (i.e., minimal worry for them).

41. Go to the Montreux Jazz Festival.

42. Give 10 percent of my annual earnings to charity.

43. Spend seven consecutive days doing charity work.

44. Become fluent in a foreign language.

45. Obtain a U.S. Patent.

46. Have a net worth (after taxes) of $1 million (in 2007 dollars).

47. Spend a year in a foreign country.

48. Give a speech to a group of more than 100.

49. Be a contestant on Jeopardy.

50. Go one month, while in a developed nation, without watching television (occupational use excepted).

As this seems to be the case, to Mr. Rove, I say, “Good riddance to bad rubbish” and “Have a nice flight back home.”