Things I appreciate

In the spirit of absolutely nothing whatsoever, I've decided to write this links-heavy entry with a theme: Things I appreciate, and things I don't appreciate.

I really do appreciate Paul Lukas' Uni Watch Column on ESPN, because I'm a bit of a dork about uniforms and stuff. I get all fired up when I hear someone talking about the "new-look Blue Jays" or whatever, and then terribly disappointed when I find out it's just a different roster. However, I don't appreciate an entire column on stirrups. Seriously, this guy needs some hobbies that don't involve hosiery.

I appreciate very much that W. Mark Felt has been identified as Deep Throat, and I appreciate Bob Woodward's account of how the former FBI Assistant Director and the legendary journalist became friends. I don't appreciate the Washington Post sending me a "News Alert" email (like the ones they sent on 9/11, when someone important dies, or when Felt was first identified) to point me to the column. Especially after Executive Editor Len Downie used a paragraph in his column (for which I cannot find a link) yesterday to advertise the piece. Look, Post, it sucks that you had to get scooped on this whole thing, but to turn it into nothing more than a banner to wave for your paper is ridiculous. People will want to read the Post this week because it's a good paper and because it's closest to the story, you don't have to send out a breaking news email every time a Post staffer writes the words "Deep Throat" or "Mark Felt" in an article.

I appreciate very much my Mach3 Razor, and although it scares me, I would probably appreciate the Mach3Power one too. Further, I appreciate the patience of a judge who is willing to sit through this madness and come up with a coherent decision, even if it rules against Gillette. Hey, Schick, give it up, you guys lost. Now stop trying to put more blades in your razors, before they start looking like props out of a low-budg horror movie!!

I also really, really, REAAAALLY appreciate my Scrubs Season 1 DVD. I've been howling with laughter for the last 48 hours, and haven't really watched any TV - in any free time I get, I'm watching one, two, or 10 straight episodes.
I DON'T appreciate that NBC is going to try it's damnedest to kill the show by moving it to Sundays next season.
I also don't appreciate the fact that "Ed," which is getting my attention every day at noon on TBS, has not come out on DVD yet. The SECOND AND THIRD SEASONS of that god-awful Nick and Jessica Simpson show are available on DVD, but not one of the smartest shows to fall victim to bad ratings in the last 5 years. What is the world coming to?

On a totally unrelated note, Bruce, who clearly taxed all of his cognitive ability in doing so, came up with six more names to add to the list of great young actresses that I came up with after my Natalie Portman heralding was challenged. I'm going to hold off on inserting these names, and instead, I'm giong to use this as a test balloon to see who else is reading. So, either comment on this site, or email me at andrew dot merritt at gmail dot com. For the record, I had considered a few of these names, but left them off for reasons I'll explain later.

Thora Birch (82)
Jena Malone (84)
Kate Bosworth (83)
Bryce Dallas Howard (81)
Ziyi Zhang/Zhang Ziyi (79)
Kirsten Dunst (82)


1st ADD -- Jim's favorite baseball player has a column on ESPN.com, and I wasn't necessarily going to link it - athletes tend to write on a 4th-grade level when they're given these "daily diary" things, usually all-positive, and really simplified - but Street's lead definitely hooked me:
"Every kid who has dreamed of being a baseball player has stood in his front yard with a bat and said to himself, 'Bottom of the ninth, Game 7 of the World Series, the bases are loaded,' and then envisioned hitting a home run to win the game. My job is to shatter that dream."
(I'll admit, I'm a bit of a Street fan too. First player from the 2004 draft to play in the majors, and just snatched the A's closer job from the dreadful Octavio Dotel.)