Released

Recently for the second day in a row, I overheard a co-worker weep uncontrollably and appear to have nervous breakdown of sorts. The first time, I wasn't sure what to do. I was the only one else left in the office, so I figured I'd leave this person to their solitude. But the next the sobbing became a total freak out/argument in the middle of the day, all while I was working with other co-workers to try to solve a rather tricky problem. Eventually we are all a little rattled by the goings on nearby that we postpone resolving the problem for a time and retreated to our individual headphones and more mundane tasks. When I fired up my iPod I was greeted by a fantastic Jeff Tweedy cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" which immediately soothed my jagged nerves. Gob Bless you Jeff and Bob for returning me to normality.

Please Let This Be True

According to this article, crazy billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban may be buying my first Baseball love the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were my favorite team growing up in Alaska when they still wore those silly pillbox hats and Bill Matlock was my favorite player. Even when they sucked in the mid-80s I loved them for Manager Jim Leyland's Don Knotts looks and chain smoking in the dugout, and young skinny Barry Bonds' promise. And the fact that Public Enemy's Chuck D always wore a Pirates hat solidified my fandom. The early 90s were a great time to be a Pirates fan with 3 straight NL East titles, but since then they have really sucked and my allegiance has been won over by the local Mariners, who now suck only marginally less than the Pirates. But if Cuban buys the Pirates and opens his big wallet and turns the Pirates into a first class organization worthy of their great ball park and swank uniforms I'll be fully back in the Pirates fold. Please Mark, please buy the Pirates!

Balloting

Today is Election Day. And by all means vote dammit! Here's how Im voting (if you care). I guess you could consider these my endorsements:

Statewide Intiatives:
330 Limit Malpractice Awards - No
336 Malpractice Accountability - Yes
900 Perfomance Audits - No
901 Smoking Ban - NO!!! (The 25 foot outside ban is stupid. And what about private property rights?)
912 Gas Tax Repeal - No (building roads is a good idea!)

King County:
Veterans Levy - Yes
Executive - Ron Sims (please god let Ron win!)
Sherriff - Sue Rahr
Council District 4 - Larry Phillips

Port of Seattle:
Comissioner 1 - Lawrence Molloy
Comissioner 3 - Lloyd Hara
Comissioner 4 - Jack Jolley (I'm still mad at my local 36th District Democrats for endorsing Pat Davis)

City of Seattle:
Health Care Advisory Measure - No (this sort of thing is a waste of time).
Mayor - Greg Nickels
City Attorney - Tom Carr
Council 2 - Richard Conlin
Council 4 - Jan Drago
Council 6 - Nick Licata
Council 8 - Dwight Pelz

Monorail:
Modify Monorail Plan - Yes (we gotta build something!)
More Elected Board Members - Yes
Board 8 - Beth Goldberg
Board 9 - Cleve Stockmeyer

Seattle School Board:
Director 4 - Michael DeBell
Director 5 - Mary E. Bass
Director 7 - Cheryl Chow

Down With GBV?

I work with acronyms and initialism all day at work. I use them, decipher them, and define them. And yes, I'm a big enough of a dork to make a distinction between an acronyms and initialisms. Anyhow tonight I ran I was trying to find Guided By Voices posters for purchase and I ran across this site. Apparently in addition for standing for the greatest band in the history of Dayton Ohio (if not the world), GBV also stands for Gender Based Violence. GBV the band is the best and GBV the social problem is very bad. Up with GBV! Down with GBV!

Also Robert Pollard's double album is coming out in January with a tour to follow. Let the Miller Light flow!