Huell Howser gives Springfield a 6 out of 10

If I have to explain this, I won't.

Contempt of Congress

When now Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was White House Counsel, he visited then Attorney General John Ashcroft in the hospital in an effort to strongarm him into approving a surveillance program that President Bush wanted, but required approval from the Attorney General. Thing is, Ashcroft had already relinquished his authority to his deputy, James Comey. Comey had decided not to sign off on the program, but Gonzales shows up in ICU to try to get a sedated Ashcroft to overule his deputy. Gonzales has testified to at least three different versions of this story, and here he is being asked a simple question: who asked him to visit Ashcroft in the hospital? Notice that he does not claim any sort of executive privilege. He's simply refusing to answer a direct question posed by a Senator before a congressional committee, quite literally in contempt of Congress.

When someone says "I listen to all kinds of music"

They usually mean five kinds of rock plus 80s pop.

Eating at Dodger Stadium

I've spent a few years apart from Dodger Stadium, but this year, I've been going once or twice a month. To quote Jimmy Pardo, when I go to a game, "I eat like an asshole". So much consumption has made me a bit of an expert. Some tips:

When at Dodger Stadium, make sure the hot dog stand say "Grilled Dodger Dogs". The steamed ones are griggedy-gross.

If given the option, ice cream beats frozen yogurt, but don't count on either, because they always run out. Skip the Dippin' Dots, the so-called ice cream of the future.

You'll make better Super Pretzels at home, even in the microwave. Save your money.

Those Jack FM mustard and ketchup dispensers have no functional logic. Approach with caution.

Camachos has great nachos and tacos- I'm partial to the carnitas.

The souvenir cup is a good deal, you get more soda and a cheap memento.

The italian ices at the cheesesteak place are wack and cost as much as a gigantic ice cream cone. I've yet to try the cheesesteaks.

Best nearby meal I've had is at Phillipes on Alameda. Go before the game because they close at 10. The original French Dip sandwich and 65¢ lemonade.

For your consideration

I don't mean this as a glib partisan jab, but following the Scooter Libby commutation, I've begun to really consider that George W Bush may have reached the point where he may be regarded as the worst president of all time, or at the very least, having presided over the worst presidential administration- Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales, Condoleeza Rice, Scooter Libby, Donald Rumsfeld, Harriet Myers, Andy Card, Michael Brown, Joe Allbaugh, Ari Fleisher, Scott McLellan.... it reads like a Murder's Row of hacks, liars and cheats.

and not to mention the award shows....

The Wire is the best show on TV. Ever. This last season may have been its best, with the addition of the public school storyline. The 12th episode was the greatest single bit of television I've ever seen. It's excellence was because it cashed it on all those plots and subplots that the writers built block by block over the previous 11 episodes. Never a wasted line, never a miscast character. It's raw, brutal and explicit at times, but only when the situation calls for it. Yet today, it wasn't nominated for a single Emmy. It wasn't even among the 10 shows that were in the "semifinals" for Best Drama consideration. This is a crime.

If you haven't seen the Wire, I would strongly recommend watching it from the very beginning. Though each season is like it's own novel, there are too many references you'll miss and too many characters that's you'll misjudge if you hop into a later season. I started with Season Four and then watched everything from the beginning. I'm going through Season Four again after watching 1-3 and I can't believe how much I missed. A fair warning though, it takes about 3-4 episodes to get into the show, because there are so many characters to follow and understand. Characters on all sides of the game defy stereotype and you will find yourself neither completely liking or completely disliking any single character. You have to watch it closely, because lines uttered in the first or second episode may not be important until the final episode of the season. Don't try to watch it on BET, they have removed entire storylines to make way for commercials.

Shamed into blogging more

Get out your baseball gloves. Knowledge will be dropped.