Just Another Big Disappointment

While I am sure you are thinking that I am disappointed in my standing in the KUBE (currently 212 and 219 respectively) but that is a minor, minor disappointment compared to the recent assault on my limited self esteem that I was recently confronted with. On Saturday the Pritzker people announced their winner of the 2010 Architecture Laureate. Most of you might no know my love and fascination with Architecture. it is in line with my whole goal of being a renaissance man. You know, a man who is well read (all of the John Grisham Books), an appreciation for the arts (well, where should I start, comic books, a fairly critical review that I wrote of the Conan The Barbarian movies, my own collection of crayon pictures from grade school, the list goes on and on) and also a very accomplished amateur architect.

the Prizker people have been awarding these international architecture prizes for years and it is a VERY elaborate selection process. the winners were Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima. That is right, not even Americans. What kind of international prize is it that is not given exclusively to Americans. I mean... they gave the International Peace Prize to President Obama for what they thought he might do. On top of that was the fact that my submission really was brilliant this year.

Here is what actually one the Pritzker prize this year. I mean, I guess it is fine and it is only one of the examples of their work, but... once again.... they are foreigners and they are building buildings in foreign places. How interesting is that? The answer it is a really easy one, not very. I have been rejected for my architectural submissions for the last several years and although that has been very hurtful it has not dulled my will to persevere but this year, this year I thought I really had something. So... I put a lot of time and effort into it and came up with this.

That is right. A perfectly symmetrical example of form and function. And what did the Pritzker people do? Crap on me. Happy Monday

This Song Is "Sunday, Bloody Sunday!"

The title quote is of course from that great American, Bono. So it is Sunday and the KUBE/NCAA gods (small g) are demanding more karnage! I do not know whether that can be delivered. The Michigan State v. Tennessee game is really a battle of two well matched programs but the hated Duke against my beloved Baylor Bears is where, if the tournament holds to form, magic can happen. Scott Drew is a graduate of Butler University who did his assistant coaching gig at Valparaiso under his father the formidable Homer Drew and was there was his brother Bryce made "the shot" that took Valpo into the sweet 16. He took over Valpo at his dad's retirement and then left for Baylor (his dad unretired and took over Valpo again) where he found a program on life support. One of the players had just killed another and the investigation into Dave Bliss' program got them put on probation with limited scholarships and recruits through 2010 (this year). He is one of two coaches in the country in national programs who plays a 3-2 zone defense (the other being Syracuse Coach Jim (I disappointed everyone again) Boeheim. The long and the short....GO BAYLOR!

Of course being a Butler grad would make a great final four story if Baylor can go play against the Butler Bulldogs. They are only a Cinderella because their lack of prior success. They are a 5 seed after all but still, what a great story and going back to Indy for the final four! If they could only play it at the Hinkle Field House (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=hinkle+field+house&ns0=1&redirs=0) and have Gene Hackmen coaching them to run "the old picket fence" while a drunken Dennis Hopper tearfully looks on, then everything would be perfect. This has been a magic tournament and fun to watch and has been a great break from the reality of unemployment, health care debates, recession, etc... Lets treasure this last week.

The KUBE of kourse has held to form providing all of the upset and drama that is lacking from our daily lives. The KUBE people are at best a bland and trivial group. Midwesterners for the main. Hard workers. Republicans. Pent up serial killers. That being the case the KUBE serves as a much valued annual release. A "blowing off of the proverbial steam" as it were. Every morning after a series of games I can count on Becker The Wrecker leaving me a message on my cell phone that goes something like this..."LOSER! LOSER! LOSER!" Ahhhhh...brotherly love. My picks, (currently 210 and 222) are my worst performance...ever. EVER! Not that I am bitter. The fact that my brother is in at 190 is....very painful. Of course I do have West Virginia winning it all while he has....wait for it....KANSAS! Sure, he will tell you he is also at 58 but we all know that bracket was filled out by his dog, and his dog chose Kentucky. Oops.














THIS IS A PICTURE OF ST. MICHAEL'S FOOT CRUSHING THE HEAD OF THE DEVIL (It's a metaphor Larry)


.What is interesting now is that our top four in the standings are all dead with their Champion picks leaving the well financed "Blair Kartel" in 5th and poised to possibly win it all with the hated Duke Blue Devils. (Picture if you will Glen beck with his chalk board drawing a picture of the devil and then writing BLUE and DEVIL. Drawing arrows downwards towards hell and explaining "blue, like the blues music that has dragged our country into the doldrums of recession and dEVILS...LIKE THE DEVIL! It is all right there in front of your people! I give you the facts and you make your own conclusions but....JIM BLAIR IS THE DEVIL!" Or something like that.

If Duke falls look for little Tommy Mulvahill of Webster. Soon to be married....charging forward with his Butler Bull Dogs to an improbable and storied win. If Duke falls today Kathy Gorshman (I don't even know her so I cannot disparage her family, her looks or her children or pets if any) with West Virginia could come charging from 48. No one has Michigan State or Tennessee winning it all.

The excitemen is in the air. Soon team Kukla with their complex mathematical precision will be able to post all of the possible scenarios, whether tonight or tomorrow. My only claim to fame in this whole mess of a beautiful tournament is way back on selection Sunday, March 13, the followers in this space were able to read:

"So I will not see what bubble beaters get in and who gets edged out. Mizzou is in. the Bills are out, the Illini....we will have to watch. It broke my heart that Ohio State did not get bounced but it happens. They edged by Michigan, they edged by Illinois. They are in and fighting for a 1 seed and I will be cheering for them to get bounced early. Kansas looks tough, Syracuse, Vandy, Purdue and Xavier stumbled in but watch for my adopted school. The Baylor Bears."

Indeed. In the KUBE we take solace where we can find it. Go Bears! beat the otherworldly, evil Blue DeVILS!

KUBE FOUNDERS JUBILANT OVER BRACKET KARNAGE!

Kukla and Becker Seen Here Celebrating The Upsets!

So it is Saturday! Most of the fun has been had. There has been a lot of great basketball and even more very average basketball but it has been one of the most enjoyable tournaments to watch in a long time. From Kansas taking a dive early to the Butler Bull Dogs. Sure the hated Duke Blue Demons are still in but Ohio State....GONE!

Some Knotes:

1. This is the beatdown Kukla has been sending out by email. He also has gotten private investigator to find where the kontestants kids go to school. If the kontestants who have not paid are kids he has the investigator find out about pets. Brutal:

"Kongratualtions - your lack of good sportsmanship has moved you to the next level of name calling and bashing by KUBE Korp. You are now part of the elite group who have yet to pay for your KUBE Klassik entry fees or respond to previous requests to make arrangements for payment.
Having to become a kollection agency is THE WORST PART of running the pool. RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ASAP and let me know how you plan to pay your entry fees. USE PAYPAL and get it done right now!!! Or, risk being banished from all future KUBE events!"

Wow. Here are the people that The Donald hires to kollect.

2. People have been wondering who won the Long Shot Award. Naturally I was hesitant to even report it when I found it was....wait for it....wait for it.... one of Kukla's relatives. Laurie Lakota-Guda (of the hyphenated names) Don wrote to me:

"Laurie reminded me that she actually won the KUBE in '03 - picking Syracuse to win it all - using her "system" - which she also used this year. The "system" consists of choosing the team with the fewest losses during the regular season to win the game in question in the brackets. It looks like she is on to something."

While this heart warming story is touching it is of course a lie. My first question is about where Ms. Hyphenated even exists or Don just makes up entries and when these "people" win prizes through Don's arcane kalkulations he pockets the kash. Either that or the answer is that our long shot winner picks her choices through an arcane ritual involving chicken bones, the entrails of birds and a pentangle. Something unholy has gone on.

3. Kukla has of course gone on the lamb. You will notice as you wake up this morning that the Friday Standings have not been posted. The reasons for same are that he is in Louisville. I called him late last night and amid the sounds of partying, privately hired "models" and raucous music he told me that he was in "Louisville" (right) at a "La Ca Crosse Tournament". This of course is code for "Partrying in Rio with Kube Money". (La Crosse by the way is an ancient Indian game co-opted by kids at Country Day who play the game with sticks, the head of a homeless man and of course.... other peoples money).

4. How about those Butler Bulldogs. We do have one Kontestant who picked the Bull Dogs to win it all. We watched early in the year when they lost heartbreakingly to Duke and we all pray this will not happen again. Butler for those of you who do not know is a small private school in Indianapolis where basketball was invented at the Hinkle Feild House. Butler has a proud academic tradition and graduates several of it's seniors each year into exciting fields such as custodial maintenance, minor crime and of course development for not for profits. The Mulvahill family started the University back in the 1800's.

5. It was heartening for my friends from Michigan to have Michigan State move on but it was hateful to see it happen at the expense of the Northern Iowa Panthers.

Tomorrow we will all of course be attending services to pray that the lord strikes down the Duke Team and that Jim Blair does not win our beloved tournament. See you there.

Is this Great Or What?

NANCY PELOSI CRUSHES FUN OUT OF NCAA TOURNY!









Seriously.... my brackets are the WORST EVER! I mean my brother is beating me. How does that make daddy feel? Great! Look at who is in the Sweet 16?

CORNELL! Ivy League! No Scholarships! Kicking ASS!
Northern Iowa! Panther Pride! The Valley! Norm Stewarts First Coaching Job!
Baylor! Mike Becker Picked Them As His Dar Horse! Scott Drew!
Wahington! Lorenzo Romar! SLU Connection!
Butler! Horizob Conference! Valpo Connection! MULVAHILL!
Michigan State! All Those Drunk People From Arcadia Who Couldn't Get Into Michigan!

Great Stuff! And what about our own humble tournament?

Laurie the hyphenated name who is on her way DOWN from number 1 with her dreadfully misguided pick of KU!

Yannakakis, Anne, also dead with KU!

7 of the next ten all have a shot with Ohio State (BOO), Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse. It is anyone's ball game. My vote is for Terrell Owens (who knew he played the KUBE) who has the highest pick with K-State!

While we are at it, although i am thrilled to have T.O. "in the house!" I am not so certain I feel the same way about warden Jayhawker 3, Baby Gudas, Two Chicks and a Dude, Betty Blumpkin, Old School, Pigs Gone Wild, and of course Henry Warshaw. I have of course granfathered in Blue Horshoe because....well...those losers have been with us since the beginning.

Now I would like to close with a word about everyone who has called, texted or even mentioned the fact that the brackets did not get updated last night. DON'T PLAY NEXT YEAR!

Good talk kids.

Go BAYLOR!

KUBE: Sunday Morning LONG SHOT UPDATE! TERROR COMES TO KANSAS!

This just in from the Donald (who might or might not have drank the beer and stacked the cans in this picture last night):

"Even though the N. Iowa game seemed liked the biggest upset and St. Mary's over Nova was huge, the one that matters right now is Washington over New Mexico. Washington, an 11th seed, will determine the long shot award assuming Cornell loses tomorrow. Cornell, a 12th seed, is the only remaining team that can change it up.

Twenty Five people chose Washington to make it to the sweet 16. Thirty Eight people chose Cornell. There will be a tie, so the winner will be determined by the person who has scored the most points and picked Washington (or Cornell) after the Sunday round."

This is key analysis from our leader. He has had a team of actuaries working 24/7 to get us thins info... yet still tell us nothing. Apparently 63 of you are in the running for the Long shot award. Kukla has tweaked the rules this year to avoid the embarrassment of someone who intentionally was trying to win only the long shot award by totally fishing for long shots. I do not understand it. I am... not that bright.

We will see what happens today and perhaps we are going to see another big upset. Some more tears of joy, and tears of despair. Congress is doing their part today to bring joy and terror to all of our hearts so it is yet another chance for the KUBE to bring us all together. The KUBE is for all people.... who have ten dollars. We will never subsidize our entrants.... the KUBE is not right but a privilege, which leads us to an ugly conversation that we need to have.

Some of you, like our friends in Washington believe in a Free Ride. You think you can submit your brackets, not use Pay Pal and not pay. We will not have it. You will be outed starting tomorrow. It will start with a listing of the names. A ritual shaming, then we will start marching outside of your kids school with placards stating that you are deadbeat. DEADBEAT. You want healthcare for nothing. Soon, perhaps as early as tomorrow they will be insisting that we let not only let illegal aliens (MEXICANS EVEN) into the KUBE and that we pay for their brackets! We WILL NOTR HAVE IT!

DO NOT TREAD ON THE KUBE! FREEDOM IS NOT FREE (and neither is the KUBE!).

Now I hate to beat on the Obama administration any more but seriously... Homeland Security? I don't think so! The Detroit shoe bomber case was one thing but how the HELL was this Ali Farokhmanesh let into the country and who (outside of our friends in the NRA) would give this IRANIAN a basketball? Look at him! He is swarthy, shifty, untrustworthy AND HE WAS ALLOWED BY THE NCAA AND THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO DROP A BOMB ON KANSAS! To see this kind of terror raining down on God Fearing, Evolution Denying people like the people of the State of Kansas should give you pause. I urge all KUBE members to be heard. Call your Senators and Congressman RIGHT NOW! We need to weed anyone who is not real American out of the NCAA right now and enact a total ban. They test for drugs in the NCAA but do they test for pure AMERICAN blood in the most American of all sports and perhaps the only thing we really invented ourselves? NO! Iowa has long been a hot bed of terrorist activities (as anyone who has driven there can attest) and is trying to throw off it's long historical function of being the buffer State between Missouri and Minnesota. The State has long been jealous of Kansas and is now sent it's basketball jihad on a national stage. The winner of the Michigan, Maryland game will have a chance to end this national nightmare and "Keep Us Safe". Al Quaeda, The Taliban, The Northern Iowa Panthers. I give you the facts, you decide!

KU. KUBE? Koincidence? I Think Not!

So I apologize for the lack of updates in this space but... well... aliens took over my body and made me drink too much the last two days. It was not my fault. It was dark, they were big.... I don't remember. I do not thing that the blood on my clothes is mine and my wife is asking some awkward questions but... I digress.

There have been a lot of Komplaints regarding shutting off the ability to get your brackets posted after 11:00 A.M. Thursday. Although it probably cost us 10 entries on behalf of KUBE management I would like say, get over it people.

What is a Megan Tietjens? Where does one of those come from? Are they bred specifically for basketball prognosticating prowess? She was our leader after the first day of games but was knocked in to second place but she looks like a future kompetitor. She also has the hated Ohio State Buck Eyes winning it all. That is a gusty, Big Tennish, unlikable pick. Still, she might be the one. Currently we have Jim Blair leading but he too has picked a much hated and reviled team, the Duke Blue Devils to go all the way.

While many komments might be made about the dramatic moves up and down the chart John De Penalozza's move from 132 to 13 is certainly impressive. On the other hand he is still John De Penalozza. Anne Yannakakis has a VERY interesting bracket (is that a dirty thing to say) with over 630 possible points which is spooky weird. Scott Humes was tied with himself for 3rd. Seriously, what are the odds? I intended to submit three brackets but evidently forget to hit send on my only decent bracket and I am languishing in the deep 100-270 range. Simply put.... I kinda suck. No surprises. Andy Hoffman was 4th after Thursday and 44 after Friday. Dude.

As i sit here Saturday night in the KUBE Kave it is hard to even care about our silly little pool. The reason is simple and that is because the much heralded Northern Iowa Panthers beat the much vaunted number seed in the universe Kansas Jayhawks. No Dorothy, they are in Kansas forevermore (or at least till next season). Rock Choke Jay Hawk. Who would have thunk it but seriously, once again, what a great tournament, what a great country. The NCAA Tournament allows this country to come together in a way we desperately need. I do mourn for my KU fan friends and of course my sister in law but what a great game and how exciting that it can happen. It is possibly one of the signs of the apocalypse so lets all go to church tomorrow morning and hope for the best.

St. Maty's knocking off Villanova was kind of awesome too but in the context of KU/Northern Iowa it was just an appetizer. Tasty but not quite a full meal. But those corn fed kids from Iowa (Ali Farokhmanesh is a time honored Iowa name and family) and that shot that he hit was without a doubt the defining sports memory of 2010. He is noit going to shoot that shot, is he? He is going to pull up and kill some time, right? OH MY GOD he is shooting it...no.....no....NO......YES! Klassik! This could be the year when the big conferences get played out of it but we will see.

Lets look at the bottom of the KUBE standings, shall we? Simon, Red and Amy? Who are they? Do they walk upright? Did the whole family get together to do the brackets? Were they stoned? I want to know. John Winstroer II (El Duce) is right there with the family along with Dawn Hessel. On the other hand there are 141 people above these folks who picked Kansa and we happily be watching them....drop like rocks over the next round or two. Laurie Hyphenated-Name was in fifth but she also has Kansas and will be...leaving the top 5.

270 players. Nice effort.

Go Baylor!

KUBE MADNESS! EARLY PUSH TO 150 ENTRIES

Sooooo It is all good. Stupid people doing stupid things. Each year you get to be stupid with us for a few weeks. What a treat for you. We might not hit 500 entries. The techno number geeks on Kukla's skwad say the trend numbers are all wrong. ALL WRONG. You heard it here first. Last year I was reviewing my notes and we had 230 entries. We must smash that this year. Last years winner John Winstroer took his winnings and went on a huge year long binge. There was talk of banishing him from this years tournament but according to his wife this is the biggest thing in his life" He is now talking THREEPEAT before he has even won his second kontest. Who are we to deny him his fun.

People are already starting to RSVP for the season ending bash at the depot. Kukla has promised a huge array of food, beverages and entertainment. I have already spoken with Maria and gotten dibs on one of the kids empty bedrooms. What they don't know is that I might never leave. I urge you all to spend Monster Monday at the depot. The KUBE nation needs to come together for it's annual Bacchanalia. Last year there were.... several of us. This year there might even be....chips. But I don't want to lure you in with grand promises. I am just saying I would go to the Depot just for a chance to use the bathrooms there. The mens room attendant is very polite.

So far no one has been able to make changes in their busy schedule to watch the opening tip at 11:20 tomorrow with me. I don't know if it is the threat of my company, the grim specter of beer and mini tacos, or, the threat of my company but right now it looks like like I will be sitting alone, sobbing quietly to myself, somewhere in the city as Florida BYU tips, followed a few minutes later by Old Dominion and the hated Fighting Irish and then Robert Morris v. Villanova. I have no love for Florida or BYU but will give the requisite cheer when the ball is tipped, on behalf of all of you automatons with your jobs and your homes and your families. Not that i am bitter. I am not like that at all.

Tomorrow.... watch out for the Spiders from Richmond.

GET THOSE PICKS IN!

KUBE STAFFERS SEEN HERE PREPARING FOR TIP OFF!

KUBE MARCHES TO 500 ENTRIES!

That is right. We are at 50 on Tuesday night. We are not even to krunch time yet and we have some record early participation. So far entries have come from Mexico where Mike Johnson is making his annual pilgrimage with one of the top private investigators in the country who is so talented...so VERY, VERY good at his job that even this humble, humble publication is frightened to mention him by name. In return foir us not publishing his name we will be expecting at least 5 entires from him. Here is a picture of Johnson on his Mexican vacation sporting some of his new ink.











The rest of you... and you know who you are need to get off of your collective, fat behinds and get busy making your picks. Kukla has made it easy for you. We are hooked up to Pay Pal. I recommend STRONGLY that you hit the website, www.kubeklassik.com and make your picks. Remember that we have all manners of losers who play in this tournament. Inbred people from Kentucky, people with more ex-wive's then Carter has pills in Ohio, a monkey toting dive instructor in the Philippine's (or Palau or wherever it is that those people live). If you cannot out perform these people you really have no place in Barack Obama's America. I mean seriously, we have the Kowert AND Winstroer clans fully mentally invested in the KUBE, very excited about it and yet still arguing about who did not pick up their end of the check. There are Gate's who are all getting married and will still probably pick Mizzou to win it all. There are all the delusional Mizzou fans who think they will get out of the first round. Arrogant Kansas fans (Metzlers at heart) who believe they cannot be beaten. There are all of those people at that place in Clayton that has so much of our money. We have school teachers (and administrators) in Nebraska all entering.

Cary Mogerman, the nations top family law attorney is in Aruba doing some congressional fact finding for our President in a last ditch effort to pass national health care. The Democrats will stop at nothing to ram their socialist agenda down our throat and Mogerman with his trip to Aruba is part of it. Still, all will be forgiven for a mere 5 entries

.The only people we really need to concern ourselves with are Kukla's people. They are on the inside. Mark...Patrick... all the rest. So good with their numbers and their algorithms and their metrics. Since Kukla's unholy alliance with the one who will not be named they are capable of anything. They cannot be trusted, yet they cannot be ignored. It was one thing when I was able to be in Vegas (with my people) for the first round. Then i knew that they could at least not steal that. Now... The manipulation! The chicanery! Someone, somewhere will have to have the pure, raw scoring ability to cry SHENNANIGANS and stop their rain of terror. Even the Pupillos cannot be trusted. All you can do to help is to enter the KUBE at least ten times. Overwhelm the geniuses with our sheer numbers. We need Jon becker and the entire Sig Ep Graternity at Valparaiso. We need Joey West and everything he can do to get ALL of the Dayton Flyers. We need all our Lutheran friends in michigan and, and, of course we need Daniel Kukla and ALL the people with him in Area 51. We need Bob Becker and the Tea Party People TO RISE UP AND TAKE THIS TOURNAMENT BACK FOR THE PEOPLE! Just like the founding fathers (other then Thomas Jefferson who didn't believe in God) intended. Give me your tired, your poor, your disenfranchised, you Wofford fans BUT GIVE ME YOUR TEN DOLLARS!

But you have got to get busy. All of you. The last minute crush WILL NOT DO! I want 200 entries by tomorrow night! Or I will come find you. We know where you live. You have been warned.

THE KUBE: Finnegan Begin Again

It is Sunday morning of Selection Sunday. Kukla has probably posted and blasted all of you and now it is up to me to post Komments. Actually I am typing this Saturday night, watching "Fight Club" with the family in my belated effort to be father of the year. I watched a lot of basketball today but am going to miss Selection Sunday. I am missing Selection Sunday because I am driving all day to Holland Michigan so my daughter can do a visitation there on Monday morning to see where she wants to go to college. My wife has intimated to me that in some way my daughter must be more important the NCAA Tournament. Needless to say I am incredulous. I think her priorities are "all out of whack".

So I will not see what bubble beaters get in and who gets edged out. Mizzou is in. the Bills are out, the Illini....we will have to watch. It broke my heart that Ohio State did not get bounced but it happens. They edged by Michigan, they edged by Illinois. They are in and fighting for a 1 seed and I will be cheering for them to get bounced early. Kansas looks tough, Syracuse, Vandy, Purdue and Xavier stumbled in but watch for my adopted school. The Baylor Bears

Kukla will posting the rules. He is Donald. He is rules oriented. He is talking like we might be able to do Pay Pal this year. While i naturally I cringe at the Korporate Koneentions implied by this type of unholy alliance it is in line what I see now as the natural konklusion of this thing of hours. World domination and konkwest. What else can happen and what could possibly go wrong? KUBE running the country, and then the world. Could that be any worse then the Democrats. Could that be any worse then the Republicans? Seriously. Think on it. President Kukla with me as his Kommunikations direktor? Survey says yes.

And while you might (the baby Lindsay Lohan) say "milka WHAT!" we need your help. The KUBE has succeeded beyond anyones expectations. We have players from across the country. Even Kentucky I"m told. I don't know if I buy it. Do they have computers in Kentucky? Can anyone there read? But I digress. We need your help by making this the biggest and best KUBE ever. We need to get your neighbors to play. Your parents, children, siblings, store clerks, co-workers anyone (other then small children in school yards but only because you should generally avoid arrest). We need 500 KUBE players this year and a 5k pot. I am counting on it. I am kounting on you. KUBE is kounting on you. Lets take this kountry back!

Additionally I would like you to use the comments here to komment liberally on the tournament and anything else that comes to mind. We are, after all a kommunity. You can follow KUBE of course on Twitter at the wantonbecker site.

KUBALICIOUS!

Yes... it is time again. Everyone sing together;

"It's the MOST wonderful time.... of the year."

I know you think of that as a Christmas type thing but this is really the most wonderful time of the year. it is time to ROCK the KUBE. We REALLY need the KUBE nation to rock the house this year. It is time for each and every one of you to GET OFF Of YOUR ASSES and bring 10 new people into the KUBE. We have set a personal goal of 500.... that is right 500 kontestants this year. Life the dream. Make it happen! if we do this that means we will have 5k in the pot and after konsiderable KUBE expenses we fully expekt to have at least 750 dollars in prize money to divide up. Maybe even 500 dollars which would be almost 10 percent of the pool with only 90% going to KUBE ekspenses. That is better then the United way people and this money aat least goes to really needy people. Me and Kukla.

I know the Democrats are dragging us towards socialism and communism and every other ism. I know the Tea Party is pulling, pushing and kicking and screaming back. But now is the time for us to pull together. Now is the time for Kubism. Even in the worst of time we can all still pull together to really stupid and pointless things... together. I personal;ly will go out tonight and buy lottery tickets. Why, well the pot is up to 200 million and the lottery is after all the stupid tax. I HAVE GOT TO PAY! maybe you cannot get out and play the lottery but you can play the KUBE.

Look at college basketball this weekend. Watch the conference tournaments. The Billikens, bubble team and prpbably not in. Mizzou, HUMILIATED by Nebraska and still in the tournament. Illinois... only if the impossible happens. But there are still great teams and significiant cheering interests. Join with me and rally AGAINST the basketball royalty of Kansas, Duke, Syracuse, kentucky and all the rest. My final four, New mexico, Baylor, Northern Iowa and Maryland. You heard it here first.

Lots off good stories here. I believe, without consulting with management that KUBE will be opening the tournament on Thursday at a local lokation. I will see if I can get Don to show up with the check book and buy a round of beers.

Lets get it together people. Gather yhe bodies now. Direct them to the web site and lets get the bodies. I am looking for the Kukla kid to open up a whole new market in New Mexico (go Cavemen) and for his daughter and future son in law to mine the Dallas Ft. Worth Area as well. We have Gates Kalifornia Konnektions, we have King holding down Central Ohio but we need nationwide koverage. LETS GET TO WORK!

Stupid People Doing Stupid Things... and turning around the economy all by ourselves.

Concert Review: The Derailers, @ The Wood House

I am in this fantasy football league dominated by these excessively wealthy plaintiff lawyers. I hate them all... like poison. There are some non lawyers in the group. Perhaps they are not the worst people in the world, perhaps they just remind me of what I am....though not successful. Anyway, one of them had some extra tickets to see the Derailers http://derailers.com/ at a house concert last Saturday. Since my son Jon and his girlfriend were coming into town for Spring Break I was able to snap them up. I have enjoyed the Derailers for a long time. They have a Bakersfield/Buck Owens country style that has always worked for me but I had lost track of them several years ago. For the chance to catch up with them and to go to something cool like a house concert and to go with wife, son and son's girlfriend seemed like a fun night.

We arrived at around 8 which was when the band was going to start playing. We were just in a little neighborhood right in Clayton and it was at the Woods house, thus the name The Wood House Concert Series http://woodhouseconcerts.com/. We dragged our cooler on wheels (the Soulard stroller) down the street and to their door and surprisingly could not hear music until we got to the door. We walked in and paid our money to the house owner who showed us where to put the cooler and where the food was. it was a nice pot luck. They were great. We wandered in after about the 3rd song (after church youth spaghetti dinner and auction).The band was playing straight back. and back there was a big family room/kitchen, cleared out with.... the band playing in the corner. And not a cramped corner. They were spread out with piano, pedal steel, drums bass and lead guitar.. There was track lighting on the ceiling arranged in a square around where the band is playing.

We parked in the hall. Then the wife and I found some seats. Then we ate and watched and it was awesome. Nice pedal steel. Nice electric piano. Nice guitar and vocals. It was all good and all west coast country. My son and the girlfriend enjoyed. The beer came out of the coolers and before I knew it it was break. Walked around the house and admired the set up. They had pics on the wall of the bands who had played and I had seen about 2/3 of them but I had seen them at The Duck Room or The Pageant, or the late great Mississippi Nights or even worse, Off Broadway where they might not have even come on stage till midnight and I would have spent their whole set thinking....OH MY GOD, I am old. I cannot stay up this late. I am weak. But here in this nice clean house in Clayton, I was seeing a great band from 5 feet away and I was going to be home by 11:00. It felt like Christmas.

The crowd was pleasant and respectful but was at least 1/2 music lovers. And they were nice. And i was not the oldest one there. At one point I spotted one kid younger then my son. While having another beer and walking around we improved seating positions and people were nice enough to let my son and his girl sit. The second set was better and closed with a great, gratuitous crowd pleasing sing along which included some classic rock hits and even some Beatles. It was great. I said our thanks. We grabbed our cooler and we did not stay around for any other encores because there would not be any. There was a hard ceiling of 10:30 and they had played 10 minutes through it. I bought the live Derailers CD on the way out.

It was a great night. It was made clear to me that they have too many people who love this. He limits it to about 80 people. I asked to be on the mailing list and he gave me his card and told me to send him a wish list. I did. Now I just got to keep wishing but while I was there I was joyous, jealous and thinking again that I might have wasted my life by not having this idea and carrying it out. It is clear that he makes no money doing it but does it for love. He has neighbors cooperation and houses and feeds the bands. And his kids get to meet them and he gets to talk to them and hit some of them at brilliant times.

Joyous and Jealous. Perhaps one of my dreams will come in or perhaps I will luck into another quality show. It is nice to know that this type of thing is out there. makes me proud to be a St. Louisian. Is that right?

***

On an unrelated note I have been reading the email postings of this guy regarding music and modern culture. He knocks me out.

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

Meatballs!

Sooooo....10th Street Italian closed and it was (is) a minor disaster for me. Besides being a generally reliable place to eat downtown they served quick, good food but personally I found their meatball sandwich to die for. Spicy. Since there closure I have been seeking out meatball sandwiches that are comparable and I have been totally striking out. Most of the acclaimed meatball sandwiches I have been eating on the hill all see to be sweet rather then spicy. I hate that. So last night I had the whole family over (17 people I think) and decided that I was going to make spaghetti and meatballs. I did my normal internet search for recipes and cobbled this one together. The most important tip I got was not to use bread crumbs but soak a few pieces of bread in milk and use that to bind it, it keeps it fluffy and moist. They turned out great and next time I will likely add some more red pepper flakes to spice them up some more. It took about an hour start to finish. Enjoy.

Meatball Recipe 3/7/10
1 lb. Hamburger
1 lb. Ground Pork
3 Pieces of bread (soak them on a plate with milk when you start)
1 tbs. Kosher Salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 egg
2 onions
5 cloves garlic
Quarter cup grated parmesan

Put garlic and 1 onion into word processor and grate it fine into a paste.

Mix it all together in a big bowl, very gooey, have lots of paper towels to wipe hand on. Knead it with your hands. If you pull everything out of refrigerator it will be very cold. Knead it very thoroughly. After kneading let it set up for a couple minutes in the bowl. Grab a large pinch and roll between both palms into a ping pong ball size. Set on a plate, do another one. When that plate is full...

Heat large cast iron skillet and coat liberally with Pam. You will need to brown meatballs 1/2 at a time due to skillet limitations. Set the meatballs in there and if they start sizzling lightly you are at right temperature. Do not use a spatula but let them brown a second and flip em around with a fork. Put half of second onion chopped in with the meatballs in the skillet.
Go make a second plate of them while that one is browning. Flip em around first batch and cook em thoroughly. They should be moist enough that you cannot burn. Brown second batch the same way.

Serve in red sauce (I just doctor up some Ragu with beer onions and more garlic) with spaghetti or get some cheese and good bread and make a meatball sandwich.

Diner Review (Sort of) Plaza Cafe and Grill

There is something liberating about going to try a new place out and being able to leave there with the unequivocal certainty that you will never go back. Indeed you have been given absolutely no reason to ever darken the places door. I mean, every new place has something to offer, ambience, service, food, location, convenience... something. Well, no I can say without a doubt, maybe not.

You know to what lengths the diner review will go to find a good breakfast. Jefferson County, Alton, even St. Claire Missouri searching, putting in the time and trying to help...you. help you sort through the drech so that you can have an enjoyable morning repast. On Valentine's Day my lovely wife and went to Three Monkey's on Morgan Ford and had a delightful brunch but we had some time to kill because they had a waiting list and so we walked down Morgan Ford and then came across the Plaza Cafe and Grill. We almost ate there that day but my wife had researched 3 Monkeys and really wanted to try it. I wanted to eat there because there was no wait. Now I understand why.

It is in a nice rehabbed building at 3182 Morgan Ford (which I never knew until today was two words). The place is fin from the outside and hold potential for some charm. it is a Block South of "The Tin Can" in what has been and for the next 50 or so years will be described as a "gentifying" area of St. louis City, just south of Tower Grove Park. It even has it's own improbable little parking lot (bonus). On the way in you see a misguided little porch with a railing blocking easy ingress and egress but I am sure looked good on paper. I walked in and my first thought was "is this place even open at 8:00 on a Saturday". I was informed by one of the two serving people that they were.

She said I could sit where I wanted so I went to the back room where they had a few elevated booths. The p[lace looked nice enough with new hard wood floors and wooden furniture and the booth was comfortable. The place had no real charm or ambience and seemed a little cold. The waitress seemed a little indifferent and she handed me a photocopied one page menu. It had about 12 different meals on it, like the hated "First Watch". No biscuits and gravy. At least on "skillet". An Omelette, Waffles, Blueberry Pancakes, Eggs Benedict, Steak n Eggs. Sheesh.

I got served an iced tea in a large plastic cup (if you cannot give me a glass, give me styrofoam. At least I know it is clean. I ordered Blueberry pancakes and some sausage and a side of breakfast potatoes. I read the paper and listened to an obviously crazy woman who lived alone chat up the waitress about how it was her first time to eat there. Fascinating. My blueberry pancakes (3) were cooked nicely but were really thick. I cast one aside and dined on them and they were above average and the high point of the meal. Seemed like they used real blueberries. The other two "food items" sucked. The sausage patties were the classic "I don't give a shit" quality. Frozen recently, little thick hockey pucks. I think The majestic on Euclid uses the same type of bland, chewy, flavorless stuff but it is the worst. The breakfast potatoes (always a suspicious name) were the dreaded Obren Potatoes with onions and green peppers in them. While this should have been disclosed it still is a passable way to serve potatoes other then the fact that they were clearly pored out of an Ore-Ida bag and into the skillet. Awful.

So, this is an easy one. If you have a choice between not eating, or grabbing breakfast at Plaza Cafe and Grill.... don't eat. Mc Donalds serves a better breakfast in a more enjoyable environment. Is there any part of this review which is unclear?

Two Slingers on a 10 Scale