TampaBLAB

From an email:

My name is Megan, and I have lived in South Seminole Heights for about a year and a half. As I walk or drive around this area and other parts of Seminole Heights, I notice a large number of cats roaming yards and streets. Many of them seem to be friendly, healthy and content with being outside, and are not bothering anything. The concern I have is making sure these cats are spayed or neutered. If they are roaming the neighborhood and are not fixed, there is a very good chance they are reproducing and having babies that are often unwanted.

Spay/neuter has many benefits for animals, owners and the community:

Good for your pet:
- Helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives (spayed or neutered pets live an average of 2 - 3 years longer than those who are not)
- Eliminates or reduces the risk of a number of health problems that are difficult or expensive to treat, including several different kinds of cancer

Good for you:
- Makes pets less aggressive, more affectionate companions
- Decreases or eliminates spraying or marking
- Eliminates the heat cycle in females, getting rid of crying and other neurotic behavior
- Makes pets less likely to roam the neighborhood, run away or get into fights

Good for the community:
- Last year, just under 30,000 dogs and cats were euthanized in local shelters because there were not enough homes for them. This is equal to over 70% of the animals brought into shelters.
- The county spends millions each year to control unwanted animals.

It's easy to get your pet fixed, and not as expensive as you might think. There is a low cost clinic called the ACT Clinic, located at 1719 W. Lemon Street in Tampa. Their prices start at $40 for cats. They do a really good job using high quality equipment and veterinarians, and care a lot about your pet. For more information, visit: www.actampa.org or call 813-250-3900. They also have a blog: www.actampa.wordpress.com.

If you are feeding stray, free-roaming cats that are not yours, you can get them fixed as well. These cats, commonly known as ferals, were abandoned by a previous owner or were born outside and have reverted to the wild state. Many of them may seem unfriendly because they will not allow you to pet them. Feral cat populations are controlled by a process called Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) where they are fixed and then returned to their original surroundings. The ACT Clinic has a special called "Trapper Tuesday" starting in July that will allow you to trap ferals and get them fixed for $10. You can learn more about ferals and TNR at: www.alleycat.org.

Feel free to email me with any questions you might have about spay/neuter of feral cats.

Megan

From a concerned resident and reader:

I was at the gym on Sunday afternoon around 4pm when this happened.

My mother-in-law's Camry was parked on the street in front of our house and my wife was in the process of putting the baby in the car to run to Publix when a black Dodge Durango SUV pulled up. A guy got out, approached my wife and claimed that he owned an auto dent store in Clearwater, was opening a Florida Ave location and wanted to fix a rather large dent in the Camry for $20 and a promise to spread the word about his business. My wife explained that it wasn't her car, but he was welcome to give her some business cards.

Just then, my mother-in-law saw them talking and walked onto the porch. As soon as he saw her, he walked away from my wife and approached the house. He made the same offer to her, to which she said "No thanks, but you're welcome to leave some business cards."

Here was his response, verbatim: "Well, when are you going to fix it, when gas prices go up some more?" To which she replied, "I'm sorry, I don't follow you."

His response: "Well, why don't I come back in a year or in five years and fix it then. Will you want it then?" Again, she said that she didn't understand what he was talking about.

He turned on his heel and began walking toward his car, cussing under his breath.

When he passed my wife, she could see that he was absolutely livid and she asked, "Are you being a jerk?"

He said, "No, but you're a b*tch."

She said, "Excuse me?"

He said, "You heard me, c*cksucker."

At that point, he turned to my mother-in-law (who recently beat cancer and has just gotten her hair back) and said "And you're a b*lldyke."

Thankfully, he got in his car and sped off.

She got a couple digits from a temporary tag on the black Durango and, obviously, she immediately called the police, made a statement, etc.

The bottom line is this: I have no idea if the guy was telling the truth about opening a dent removal place on Florida Ave and can't think of how to find out besides watching for one to open. IF ANYONE HAS MET THIS GUY, GOT A BUSINESS CARD FROM HIM, ETC. PLEASE email me ASAP @ ddoughty1@tampabay.rr.com so I can pass that info to the police.

I travel 18-20 times a year for work and can't stand to think about people like this roaming around the 'hood. Just spreading the word about it should help, and feel free to edit it for language, etc., but I chose to write it verbatim so you could see how quickly he escalated his attitude/actions to a dangerous level.

Thanks for reading, Jay.

Best,

Darren Doughty
4-Year SH Resident

YouTube - Jamie Lidell - Another Day (from the album JIM)

Read at Work

A

Hi-Ho…..We’re about to depart (July 8th) for the Blue Ridge and some time to relax!

I’ll be posting pics and stories as we go.

Gas prices be damned! We are off and roaming.

Duke

One of the reasons some people are loath to forgo their cars for the morning commute is the certain powerlessness that comes with it.  What if you take the carpool to work and suddenly become ill, or little Johnny breaks a leg at school, or the boss wants you to work overtime for those TPS reports?

That’s where the Emergency Ride Home program comes in.

If you walk, ride a bike or carpool to work at least two days a week, and an emergency comes up, you may be able to get a free cab ride home. Of course, there are some restrictions — it only covers about $100 in cab fare and you have to be registered with Bay Area Commuter Services. Nice deal, eh? And, apparently, you can use it up to eight times a year.

Click here to register.

(h/t to Creative Tampa Bay for the info)

It was a good intentioned idea. Really.

On Saturday, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office let area residents turn in their rusty, broken and unwanted guns for a brand-new $25 giftcard to Publix or Wal-Mart.

True, it was a little badly-timed considering the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that unequivocally gives us, the common folk, the right to bear arms. (Bear arms, not bare arms, mind you.) But something else struck me: If the deputies were trying to rid the streets of guns, why did they hand out Wal-Mart giftcards? Doesn’t Wal-Mart sell guns and amunition?

From a recent trip to the beach (in the rain), here's a photograph of the raised draw of the Anna Maria Island Bridge. In September, this 50-year-old bridge will be closed for a few weeks for repairs. The bridge is on State Road 64 (Manatee Avenue) and takes cars and trucks over Sarasota Bay between Anna Maria and Bradenton.

“I was utterly shocked,” -Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia

“Beyond comprehension “ -Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kansas

“A very indecent thing,” -Retired Air Force Col. Bud Day

“The horror!”- ABC Action News Anchor, Brendan McLaughlin

No, it wasn’t the explosion of the Hindenburg or the Holocaust that inspired such dudgeon. It was this bland observation by General Wesley Clark about John McCain on a Sunday morning news show,

 ”I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”

 

The statement is so obviously true, that it barely merits discussion. Instead, it has McCain supporters wondering aloud what kind of animal would even think such a thing?  Does Wesley Clark eat with that mouth? Does he kiss his wife with that mouth?  Meanwhile, Barack Obama is chiseling a granite monument to McCain with his own bare hands to assure voters that he indeed honors his fellow Senator’s service.

 

 The cable channels are quick to characterize General Clark’s comments as a denigration of McCain’s military service. You want to hear the denigration of a military record?  Peruse the Swift Boaters description of John Kerry’s service. Or read about the Senate race between Saxby Chambliss and former incumbent, Max Cleland who left behind both legs and one arm in Vietnam.

 

The assertion that military service of any kind does not, in itself, pre-qualify someone for the myriad responsibilities of the presidency is no more offensive than pointing out that Obama’s brief tour of duty in the Senate fails to do the same.  The outrage is phony and watching Barack Obama try to put out flames of an imaginary fire is not pretty.  Making John McCain’s war record a taboo subject is counter to the democratic ideals he went to war to defend in the first place.  

———————–

 

Speaking of Vietnam…

 

This is a donation bowl set up at the Hanoi airport I encountered during my visit earlier this month.   Have your kids gotten any of this money?

 

 

Deven Trabosh is looking for a husband.  She also wants to sell her house...and she lives in Florida! 

Hey, I am looking for a wife and I live in Florida.. Problem..If I move in and you move out, where do we live?  Small detail.  I am sure we can work that out.

You see, after a year of trying to sell her four-bedroom home and eight years of singledom, Deven Trabosh is offering her South Florida home and a shot at marrying her on the Internet. I understand she has had inquires from Europe and so forth...Deven!  I live in Florida. 

If you see this after a Google search, contact me. I am serious.  True love can conquer all. 

I am a great cook and handyman.  I am also funny and a great conversationalist and you will never be bored. 

Let me know.

Fifty-three-year-old Benjamin Ford finds himself stranded for hours in O’Hare Airport on his way to his estranged daughter’s lesbian wedding in California. Out of sheer desperation, he picks up a pen and starts writing a letter to the airline, demanding his money back.

This letter is the clever conceit that shapes Dear American Airlines, Jonathan Miles’ debut novel. The “letter” turns out to be a tightly composed, 180-page story, a mixture of complaint and confessional, at turn hilarious and heartbreaking. This is not your classic summer read (whatever that is), but I unequivocally recommend it for fans of contemporary adult fiction who like their novels about equal parts humorous and poignant (and for those not interested at the moment in epics).

The book’s structure allows Miles to rant directly to the airline, describe the horrors of an overnight airport stay and — most crucial — write a rambling bio of Bennie Ford in long digressions that lay out a tale of regret, despair and possible redemption. As it turns out, Bennie was a bad drunk, bad husband and bad father. But somehow Bennie’s not a bad guy.

Miles prose is dense but not flowery; he balances out his longer riffs with tossed-out lines that lend a conversational air. Here’s a passage I especially like:

The worst part of sobriety is the silence. The lonesome, pressurized silence. Like the way sound falls away when you’re choking. Even when I drank alone, the vodka provided me with a kind of soundtrack — a rhythm, channeled voices, a brain crowded with noise and streaming color, the rackety blurred color of decrepitude. At the meetings everyone talks about how much more vivid life is without the booze, but I think, though I never say, that vivid is the wrong word. Life is rather more clear.

Dear American Airlines is loaded with insights like these, all the while evoking a narrator that you end up liking in spite of yourself.

I’ve had sex. Therefore, I am supremely qualified to be a Great Porn Star. Of course in minds other than my own this may or may not be entirely accurate. Crooks and Liars » Wesley Clark on Face the Nation: CNN accuses Clark of “Swiftboating”

FIRST INNING...
Yesterday the Rays won the rubber-match against the Pirates and Andy Sonnanstine picked up his 9th win...Has The Duke secured himself a spot in the '09 rotation?

We are not sure about "secure" but he definitely has a leg up on Edwin Jackson even if Sonny's peripheral numbers are not as good as his record would indicate. Still, a 4.60 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP, to go along with a 3.5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio are good numbers for a #4/5 starter. And with the loss of Jake McGee to Tommy John surgery, there is one less pitcher that could potentially jump and claim a spot in the rotation. Wade Davis hasn't shown any sign that he could be ready in '09. It appears as though Niemann is destined for the bullpen or another organization and Jeremy Hellickson is still at least a year away. That leaves David Price as the only prospect that could compete for a spot in Spring Training next season, and we have to think that Jackson would be the first to go...YES

SECOND INNING...
Yesterday's win was the Rays' 49th in 81 games. They are on pace for 98 wins. Most are accepting the Rays as a good team...but can they keep up this pace?

First let's do the math. The Rays have 43 of their remaining 81 games on the road where they are 19-19 so far this season. If the Rays go 22-21 on the road, they would have to go 27-9 in their 38 home games to win 98. That seems like a tall order. Certainly the Rays could do a game or two better on the road, but will they? And of the remaining 81 games, 9 are against the Sox against whom they are 3-6 so far and 8 are against the Yankees (5-5 in '08). 90 wins is almost guaranteed at this point. The Rays need only go 41-40 in the second half, but 98 is a very tall order. Then again they really only need 94 or 95 wins for the playoffs...NO BUT THEY DON'T NEED TO

THIRD INNING...
The Rays two best players in '07 were Carlos Pena and James Shields, both of whom have struggled in the first 81 games...Who is the Rays' first half MVP?

There are two obvious candidates and one not so obvious. Troy Percival has meant the world to the squad on and off the field ever since he joined the team in spring training. On the field he solidified a bullpen, slotting everybody else down one rung on the ladder, effectively making spots 2-7 in the bullpen better. In addition, all reports indicate that his presence in the clubhouse has been immeasurable. There is also Evan Longoria. The Rays were 5-5 when Dirtbag made his big league debut. They haven't looked back since going 44-27. As Percival helped slot everybody better in the bullpen, Longoria has done the same with the lineup. His numbers are MVP worthy, .270/.342/.529 and he is just now in the midst of his first hot streak. Finally there is The Fat Catcher, Dioner Navarro. His contribution to the improved pitching staff cannot be overlooked. With improved performance across the board, at least some credit needs to go to the guy behind the plate. In addition, his defense has been outstanding. He is one of only 2 catchers with 50 starts and no errors. He is 7th in baseball with 14 runners thrown out, despite missing time on the DL and his range factor is 8th amongst catchers with 50 starts. And oh by the way he is hitting .317/.368/.444...DIONER NAVARRO

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...FOURTH INNING...
A rumor was floating around this weekend that the Rays were set to send Jeff Niemann and Reid Brignac to Pittsburgh for Jason Bay...Does this trade make sense for the Rays?

First of all, we presented this rumor to somebody with the right connections. This person told us that the Rays and Pirates have never discussed these specific players. But that doesn't mean that the trade is a bad one. We get the feeling that the Rays have soured a bit on Niemann and Brignac. And Bay would be a signifact upgrade in right field. This is a guy who has posted OPS+ seasons of 145, 132, 150, 138 and 145. He is 29 and is signed through next season with $7.5MM coming to him next season. We would do this deal in a heartbeat, and we have to think that if the Pirates want to move Bay, getting the top shortstop prospect in baseball and a major league ready starting pitcher would be a good bounty...YES

FIFTH INNING...
Troy Percival looked solid last night in his first outing since his near-nuclear meltdown, but he did it on 5 days rest...Can the Rays count on Percy in the 9th inning for the rest of the season?

In a word. No. We have to wonder if Papa Joe will let Percy pitch on back-to-back days in the near future and a return the DL at some point seems like a safe bet. Luckily the Rays do have depth in the bullpen this season and they can live with Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler in the 9th inning, but on those days the Rays are much weaker in the 6th, 7th and 8th inning. This is a lot like the situation with Cliff Floyd. The Rays have their hands tied and are just going to have to be very careful and hope for the best...NO

SIXTH INNING...
With Aki Iwamura serving his suspension, BJ Upton is serving as the Rays leadoff hitter. Some think this move should be permanent. Are they right?

Cetainly one can argue that Upton would be a great leadoff hitter. He has a .399 OBP and 23 steals. He also sees a very solid 4.0 pitches per plate appearance. And with his lack of home runs this season, he does not appear to be the RBI guy that he was last season. Aki on the other hand isn't a terrible leadoff hitter. His .346 OBP is not shabby and while he only has 5 steals, he is a solid baserunner. And surprisingly, Aki is seeing 4.1 pitches per plate appearance and is second only to Grady Sizemmore in the AL for pitches seen this season. If we thought Upton's home runs would never return then we would be more open to the idea. But his doubles and triples are still there so we have to think the home runs will come soon and he is more valuable in the 3-hole...NO

SEVENTH INNING (over/unders)...
Starts for Shawn Riggans in this series: 0.5

Shawn Riggans had a huge game offensively last night and there is no doubt that he is a threat at the plate. But more interesting is his work with Matt Garza. Outs Per Swing posted some interesting numbers recently that showed Garza is much more effective with Diesel behind the plate (.731 opp OPS with Navi, .474 opp OPS with Riggans). Riggans normally gets the call on day games after night games, and all 3 of these are at night. We are not sure if Joe Maddon is ready to make Riggans the personal catcher for Garza, but if Garza struggles tomorrow night it could happen soon...UNDER

Lead in the AL East at the all-star break: 0.5

The Rays have 13 games left before the break. Including this 3-game set with the Sox, they have 4 at home against KC, 2 at Yankee Stadium and 4 at the Indians. Considering the Royals series, 8 wins seems realistic. The Sox also have 13, with 4 at Yankee Stadium, 3 at home with the Twinkies and 3 at home versus the O's. 7 seems realistic and 8 seems hopeful...OVER

Wins in this series versus the Red Sox: 1.5

The Rays are 3-0 against the Sox at the Trop, but the Sox might have not been taking the Rays seriously in that first series. Since then the Sox have swept the Rays twice in Boston. You have to love the pitching matchups if you are Rays fan. The Rays get their Big 3 while they will miss the Sox Ace, Josh Beckett. The Rays still have to deal with Dice-K and the Rays Killer, Tim Wakefield, although they did get to him in the earlier series at the Trop. The Rays should win at least 1, and 2 seems likely with how well the team is playing right now...OVER

EIGHTH INNING...
Earlier this season you called the Rays-Red Sox series the biggest series in the history of the franchise. The Rays swept that series. Now the Rays have inched back into first place...Is this now the biggest series in the history of the franchise?

Actually, no. The Rays needed that earlier series to show they were not a fluke. Sweeping that series gave the Rays some legitimacy that has been reinforced by their continued good play. Most now believe the Rays are at least a good team if not yet a playoff team. A sweep in this series might really open some eyes, but it won't change any perceptions that the Sox are still the team to beat. And if the Rays lose 2 or 3, they will still lead the wild card by at least a game and a half. The Rays have officially separated themselves from the bottom-dwellers of baseball. And most believe they are at least close to the top tier. Losing this series won't do anything to change that and their playoff hopes will still be very much intact...NO

NINTH INNING (putting out the fire)...
A couple of weeks ago, Jonathon Papplebon said that the feud with the Rays was not over, saying: "All I got to say is what comes around goes around. Payback is a bitch."...Should we expect more fistacuffs this series?

Immediately after that Terry Francona dragged Pappleboner into his office like a schoolboy and gave him a talking-to. Both teams paid a heavy price in terms of suspensions and the league is only going to get tougher on any further shenanigans...NO

Sportscenter just called the AL East playoff race "one of the best baseball races ever"...Have they been snoking a little too much doobie?

Geez. There have been a lot of great races. How about '78 between the Sox and Yankees. Everybody knows the Bucky Dent home run, but that was only after the Yankees stormed back from 14 games down in July. Still, there is a little "Rocky" feel to this race. But it is only June. If the Rays and Sox stay neck-and-neck the entire way, then maybe. But now?...YES, TOO MUCH DOOBIE

The St. Pete-based theater troupe formerly known as Quirky White Chick Productions has announced it is changing its name to Economic Stimulus Productions, because, they announced in a press release today, “Producers Julie Rowe and T. Scott Wooten decided against buying plasma-screen-HD-television-sets and instead pooled their tax rebate checks together to produce live theatre.” The result, they are proud to announce, is “performance art fully funded by the United States Government.”

It’s W’s worst nightmare! But EcStim isn’t talking about performance art à la Karen Finley, she who rubbed foodstuffs all over herself and caused an NEA ruckus some years back. What EcStim is doing is cabaret, but cabaret with a subversive twist: it’s a revue of songs by the master of the sardonic song lyric, Tom Lehrer. From “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” to “The Vatican Rag” to “The Masochism Tango,” Lehrer’s songs still pack a satirical wallop even though they date back to the 1960s. Come to think of it, George might like old Tom even less than Karen and her comestibles.

EcStim’s An Evening Wasted with the Songs of Tom Lehrer will be performed July 23-26 at 11 p.m. at American Stage in downtown St. Petersburg. It’s a pay-what-you-can arrangement, so it’s up to you how much of your rebate check you want to spend on live theater.

Are you backing up? You should be! If you’ve been looking for an affordable online backup storage space, you might want to give Jungle Disk a shot. This service lets you backup your computer to Amazon’s S3 storage platform quickly and easily.

Recently, Jungle Disk released version 2.0 of their software which debuted a brand-new UI which aims to make the setup of the service even more intuitive than it was before. The new version also now offers support for scheduling multiple backups and has improved performance for large directories and large cache sizes. A new "previous versions" feature lets you set minimum and maximum numbers of previous versions of select files and this option can be customized on a per-backup-job basis.

The pricing for Jungle Disk is very reasonable - you only pay for what you use - no minimum monthly fees or long-term commitment is required. There is a one time purchase fee of $20, but after that, the price for storage is $0.15 per GB and $.10 per GB of data uploaded and $0.17 per GB download. Upload and download requests are priced at $0.01 per 1000 uploads and $0.01 per 10,000 downloads. That’s darned cheap! There’s also an optional "Plus" service that lets you access your files from anywhere for only $1/month.

To learn more about Jungle Disk, go here.

This summer has been as busy as the rest of the year. I need to remember:

“If you take life too seriously, you will never get out of it alive.” -author unknown

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It’s June 30th and the Tampa Bay Rays are in first place, starting a three game series tonight against the second place Boston Red Sox, after which they could be anywhere from 3 1/2 games up to 2 1/2 games behind.

The biggest milestones in Rays history are March 9th, 1995 (the day the franchise was awarded) March 31st, 1998 (the first game) and August 7th, 1999 (the night Wade Boggs homered for his 3000th hit), but depending on the outcome, and what happens the rest of the season, the next three days could be somewhere among those momentous occasions.

With so much at stake, now is as good a time as any to assess what your level of support for the beloved home team is:

1) The Die Hard - Goes to games no matter how well or how poorly the team is doing. Knows the team’s winning percentage and batting orders against righthanders and lefties. Owns several jerseys.

2) The Fan - Goes to games frequently, or watches them on tv. Knows what place the team is in. Can name most of the starting line-up. Owns a cap.

3) The Bandwagon Jumper - Is aware of the team’s general level of performance. Goes to games when the team is doing well. Might buy a t-shirt. Often confused with The Frontrunner (see below) but is generally harmless and should actually be welcomed, as in most cases, there just aren’t enough of #1 and #2 to support any professional sports franchise (with the possible exception of some European soccer teams).

4) The Frontrunner - Roots only for teams that are in first place and switches allegiance frequently and easily. Wears several different teams t-shirts at the same time so they can change as the prevailing winds blow. This is the lowest form of parasite in sports (slightly above agents) and should be shunned and avoided at all costs. Where the Bandwagon Jumper says things like “I haven’t been to a game all year but they’re doing pretty well. I think I’ll get tickets this weekend”, the Frontrunner says things like “I haven’t been to a game all year but I’m blowing off work tomorrow to attend the victory parade”. If this is you, we don’t need you.

(Cross posted at Ridiculously inconsistent trickle of consciousness)

Our run of A Dream Play has come to an end. The show closed yesterday after a solid 3-week run, including 1/3 of the shows being totally sold out. As the riskiest, most experimental and most artistic/mission-based piece we did all year, we feel very good about the work done and the way it was received. We really are extraordinarily lucky to have such a willing, adventurous audience who trust us enough to sometimes just come along for the ride.

From all of us here, thank you for that.

We also managed to once again break records for the year. Since becoming resident theater company at TBPAC, our attendance and our box office grosses have grown every single year. With the entire run of Embedded still left to go, we've already topped the 0607 mainstage attendance and grosses by $13,000!

Once again, without your support we would not be making announcements like this. Thank you.

Finally, still from the Good News Department, we are only eight 0809 season tickets away from passing the mark we set in 0708. We still have a lot of time left to sell season tickets so we have no doubt in our minds that 0809 will once again be another banner year for Jobsite.

So much excitement going around right now. We're making headway on funding with our new bookkeepper/grantwriter, the current season we're in is still tearing it up and there's just so much on the horizon.

We'll take the baby steps. In some ways we're like that tortoise in the story that has the hare in it. As long as we're moving forward, as long as we continue to improve and grow - we're know heading in the right direction.

Again, it can't be stressed enough that without your support in the form of buying season tickets or even just coming to see one show over the course of the year - this wouldn't be possible. Without this great group of donors we have who contribute more and more every year - this wouldn't be possible. Without our sponsors like Creative Loafing, Bright House Networks and Discount Printing and Graphics - this wouldn't be possible.

There's a lot of exciting stuff in the pipe right now, onstage and off. As always, you guys will be the first to hear about it.

Last day for Salvia, folks. The ban on the psychoactive substance takes effect tomorrow; if you’re found in possession of the mild hallucinogen, you could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

I know at least one retailer is staying open until midnight to sell his stash of the soon-to-be-illegal weed. Perhaps you can convince some store owners to give you an eleventh-hour deal.

By the way, if you don’t know what Salvia is, or what it’s like to smoke it, check out my story on the subject here.

(Photo Credit: Randy Heine)

Chris Rock is in town this week and plays Carol Morsani Hall on July 2-3 with his "No Apologies Tour."

I caught his "Black Ambition Tour" a few years back and he had the capacity crowds, including my wife and I, rolling in the aisles. Not only a brilliant comic, I think Rock (like most of the truly great comedians) is an astute social critic as well. I think he catches a little bit of heat from all races who want to claim he's a racist (including his own), but I think when you're offending everyone you must be doing something right. People love it when you're telling jokes about people, as long as you don't happen to fall into the subset of folks being targeted.

Actually, there's always the exception of Stuff White People Like, which any day now should include an entry as to how much white people love Stuff White People Like.

In person, Rock is a very nice, sort of soft-spoken guy. Meet and greets are always awkward, but I was glad I got to be a foot away from him and shake his hand. Not every day you get to rub elbows with the 13th Apostle.

Last week's Rays Confidence Graph results.

Below you will see two polls that ask about your confidence in the Tampa Bay Rays. Please take a moment to answer each question. We will present these same polls every Monday. The results will be presented in graphical form on Wednesday, and will be displayed permanently in the sidebar. The goal of the Confidence Graph is to get a feeling of how Rays fans feel about the team and the franchise and track how that level of confidence changes through time. Thanks!

Raysiverse events of the past week that could impact confidence levels...

• The Rays are 49-32, a half of a game ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East and and 4.5 games ahead of the Twins in the wild card race. In the past week the Rays swept 3 games at the Marlins and then won 2 of 3 at the Buccos.
• Matt Silverman may prefer a future in St. Pete but he would not commit in a recent interview.
• Matt Garza nearly threw a no-hitter.
• The Rays took a serious blow when they lost Jake McGee to Tommy John surgery.
  

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Opinion Polls & Market Research