So I advised in my blog - surely one of the most well-read of any others among McCain campaign staffers - that McCain's best course of action would be to let the issue fade a bit and then jump back into the guest appearance with both feet and take his hits.

And it appears that's exactly what he's going to do. I'm glad to see I can make a difference in the world.

The Mets didn’t make the playoffs. I’d be disappointed if I weren’t so used to it.

I’m not going to dwell on this for long, but the idea that breaking apart the Mets is the best thing to do seems a bit over the top. And by “over the top,” I actually mean “knee-jerk and psychotic.” While I agree that David Wright and Jose Reyes haven’t exactly been clutch these last few years, they are still far too young to be given up on. On the other hand, we as fans shouldn’t coddle them indefinitely. If they don’t start producing the string of playoff runs that this team (and its payroll, for that matter) warrants, then it’s time to start the fire sale. (Side Note: One of the entries on the Late Show with David Letterman’s “Top Ten Features of the Rejected $700 Billion Bailout” was “a billion dollars to rebuild the Mets bullpen.” I thought that was funny.)

As for some of the Mets upcoming free agents, I think it’s a good idea to bring back Oliver Perez and Carlos Delgado. Perez might be a bit expensive, but a left-hander with his stuff is never a bad commodity to own and Delgado has earned a spot on the team based on his production this year. What I would advocate, however, is that the Mets try to pull off a sign and trade with him. I don’t mean to sound like one of those insane former-Mike and the Mad Dog callers (“Doggie... Doggie... Pavano for Pujols... what’cha think?”), but I think Delgado packaged with a few young players might get us a good starter and maybe even a productive outfielder. If a trade couldn’t be worked out then I wouldn’t mind having him back. As for “interim” manager Jerry Manuel, he seems to be locked in as our manager for next year. The decision makes sense to me if for no other reason than I don’t think there’s much out there better than him. He has the respect of the team (something Willie Randolph never had) and got them to play pretty well during the second half of the year. I wouldn’t sign him through 2015, mind you, but a two-year deal at a reasonable price might turn out to be a steal. Heck, if Omar Minaya has done enough to earn an extension, then Manuel deserves at least a full season.

I was asked to comment on Kurt Warner this week, but the only thing I can think of is how he went from being a bagger at a supermarket to an NFL MVP. Given my career background, his story is endlessly inspiring and instructive about how far you can go solely on talent and perseverance. In regards to his fantasy value after a dozen or so turnovers against the Jets, I’m afraid I have nothing to add (sorry Mikey.) (Another Side Note: One of my fantasy quarterbacks had 45 points last weekend and the other had 12. Guess which one I started?)

Whenever I look at the AFC East standings, the only thing I can think to say is: “But the Bills are terrible.” Maybe they’re not. Don’t forget, Dear Readers, I’m the guy that picked (and has picked for three consecutive years) the Rams to win their division. Clearly anything I say about the NFL is complete hogwash. (Disclaimer: Much of what I say (and write) about anything is complete hogwash. This phenomenon is not restricted simply to my knowledge of the NFL.)

I refuse to get worked up over the destruction of a building (no matter how often I went to it or how much I loved its dingy bathrooms and miserable parking). I wasn’t moved when Yankee Stadium shut its doors and I doubt I’d care very much if they tore down Fenway tomorrow. What I would like to say, however, is that throughout my entire lifetime Shea Stadium has always been the Mets home. It'll feel weird to say, “We’re going to CitiField” next year. So weird that I might even start calling the new ballpark “Shea,” just for old times sake.

As I left the parking lot after my final trip to the stadium last week, I didn’t get a chance to have that meaningful, prolonged glance that would have been required had my life been a movie. It was almost an afterthought when I did finally look back from Northern Blvd. and see the stadium; a big purple eyesore with glow in the dark stick figures on its sides. It wasn’t the Friendly Confines nor was it The House That Ruth Built. The names of the legends that called it home don’t resonate in the way other legends do and the most memorable moment inside its gates is a concert, not a baseball game. No other place could inspire fierce defensiveness against its detractors and yet shared ridicule amongst its patrons.

That’s what Shea Stadium was to anybody who ever laid their eyes on it: that dump in Queens that belonged to the city’s second favorite team and actually looked the part. But what it lacked in glamour, it made up for in charm.

And that’s how I choose to remember it.

Here are some highlights of the interview.

On his famous celebration in at the end of the 100M in Beijing, Letterman asked if he was flapping his arms:
Bolt: "I wasn't flapping my arms, I was actually trying to fly."

Letterman: Have you ever been airborne?
Bolt: "No."

Letterman asked if maybe his 100M world record would have been faster if he hadn't been celebrating at the end:
Bolt: "Yeah, that's true, but then it would take me a long while to get there again. I was being smart in slowing down."

Letterman asked about his height. After telling Dave that he was the tallest sprinter around (at 6' 5"):
Bolt: "I get a lot of complaints from the shorter athletes."

On his choice of running, as his sport, he said that cricket was his first choice and then added:
Bolt: "My cricket coach saw me running and said 'you got speed!'.

Letterman asked if he was born fast?
Bolt: "I popped out and I was running fast. I was quick, small, my mom had to take me to the doctor I was so full of energy. I was running around and climbing stuff. I was quick since I was small."

On his training focus:
Bolt: "I got keep rockin' (rocking his head back and forth), because there's a breeze up this high."

Letterman asked if it was true that he ate Chicken McNuggets before the races in Beijing:
Bolt: "yes, that's true. It's not typical of my diet. In China I didn't want to eat anything I didn't know. I know McNuggets!"

Letterman asked about the crowds when he returned home to Jamaica:
Bolt: "It was amazing. The people were standing out in the rain. I was thinkin' 'do they know the rain is coming down?' "

In a separate interview on Live with Regis and Kelly, Usain was asked if there was anybody that scared him in the world of track. He said with a shake of his head: "no."

Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

David Letterman was angered by John McCain’s cancellation Wednesday night; so much so that he really lit into McCain Thursday night. It appears that the snub deeply offended Mr. Letterman, and he wasted no time in letting John McCain know. Letterman told Paris Hilton that he felt like an “ugly date” because the GOP presidential candidate backed out of his appearance on the late show, claiming that he had to deal with the economic crisis. However, after he backed out of the “Late Show with David Letterman,” McCain appeared on an interview with Katie Couric and didn’t leave New York until Thursday, further fueling Letterman’s anger.

In his opening monologue, Letterman told his audience, “You’re here on a good night. So far none of our guests have canceled.” Even Paris Hilton got into the act later saying, “I heard he dissed you. He dissed me.” Letterman added, “You had a little run-in with him too, didn’t you?”

At TicosLand.com, we want our readers in Costa Rica and around the world to form their own opinions about what’s going on in the news.

Usain Bolt, the track running sensation who creamed the competition in Beijing, will be making a pair television appearances tonight and tomorrow on US television programs. He will appear tonight on the Late Show with David Letterman and then tomorrow morning on Live with Regis and Kelly.

Bolt (AKA "the Lightning Bolt") set three world records at the Beijing Olympics in the 100M, 200M and as part of the 4x100M relay.

He is scheduled to appear along with Paris Hilton on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman on August 25th, 2008.

He is then scheduled to appear on Live with Regis and Kelly on August 26th, 2008 alongside Victoria Beckham.

Check your local listings for channels and times.

Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

"There's nobody smarter in politics," Obama said on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," scheduled to air Wednesday night. "And he is going to be campaigning for us over the next eight weeks, which I'm thrilled by."

The two were scheduled to have lunch Thursday at Clinton's office in New York. Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna said the former president would campaign for Obama at a yet-to-be announced site in Florida on Sept. 29, with plans for more fundraising and events in the works.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton already has been hitting the trail for Obama.

During the Democratic presidential primary, the former president acted as his wife's chief defender from Obama's successful challenge to her candidacy, which strained relations between him and Obama. Clinton portrayed Obama as too inexperienced for a presidential run, and Obama said sometimes it was hard to tell which Clinton he was running against.

The two didn't speak for nearly a month after the campaign ended, but their silence ended when Obama called and the former president offered to do whatever he could to help Obama win.

Obama said there are parallels between his campaign against Republican John McCain and Clinton's 1992 race against incumbent GOP President George H.W. Bush. He said both came during tough economic times.

"He was young and people were still trying to figure out whether or not the guy was up to the job," Obama said of Clinton. "And so I think having him talk about why we need to change the economy in a fundamental way so it works for middle-class families so that they can get ahead, so that they can send their kids to college, I think he'd be a great advocate to have on behalf of the campaign."

continue reading

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080910/ap_on_el_pr/obama_letterman

Infrequently, though, I find that I shift from tele to wide. I can, momentarily, sacrifice the metaphoric greater for the smaller. It's an awkward place to be in, almost as though you're fiddling with a tea set that your hands are just too large for, or maybe the way it looked when your uncle tried to play with Legos with you. These are the photographs best captured with a macro lense, a very specific detail in brilliant focus; everything else is a blur because, well, frankly, it's unimportant.

When you've decided to venture so close, it is a great sacrifice, but there is also great reward in tunnel vision. These rewards are sometimes more gratifying than 'big picture' rewards, because they are so intimate and personal; sure, it's great to be able to pontificate over life's purpose or love, but how often, in hearing a melody do you pick out a carefully thought-out lyric? How often do you notice the subtleties of well-written sitcom humour? When was the last time you noticed when a chord in a later rendition of a song was drawn out longer than normal? How often do you notice the exact moment that night hands the flashlight over to day?

Living amongst the minutia of life is a vacation for my mind, and one during which I can appreciate the finer points of music. Shift from the photograph to the song. The tele equivalent of music is a phrase or the song as a whole, whereas the wide is a brief run of notes or even the articulation of a single note. Given this analogy, I realise that a lot of music is a blunt sweep of the roller rather than carefully placed brushstroke. The best most substantial music, or rather the music I most consistently and genuinely enjoy, I find, is that which can withhold these temporary bouts of nitpicking. Simply, it is the music that sounds good close and far. It is music that is layered enough to simultaneously be both, maybe to two different people, or even just one particularly astute person. I am more critical and less concerned with whether a fits with b, which fits with c, which fits with d, which fits with a, but singularly concerned with just a. I usually take this rare opportunity to purge my music library, shave it down to a tolerable cacophony of macro-appropriate melodies.

And for the visual learners: a contrast of articulation in Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and The Kooks' cover. I'll leave the details to you.

Gnarls Barkely playing on the Late Show with David Letterman.

The Kooks playing in the streets of Paris for Le Blogothèque.

Release The Stars is one of my favourite Rufus Wainwright songs, and definitely one of my faves from his current album of the same title. I saw this performance whilst I was in Tulsa last year on the day it was recorded on the Letterman show. I was expecting "Going To A Town" to be performed, but then BANG! out he comes with Release The Stars.

I was suitably blown away at both Sydney shows this year when he performed this song to open the shows. Such pomp and a great tale in the lyrics.

You could also turn on NBC and see the return of Jay Leno...something else you could also do is shave your head and start up your own personal "Jonestown"-like commune. I would advise against both of those moves.

Roligaste presidenten i historien kanske!?

En till topp 10 lista!

"Did you watch the debate last night? I gave up drinking a while ago, but I started again, and I'm watching the debate last night, and I did a shot every time John McCain said, 'my friends,' and so I am just blotto."

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Jay Leno, on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,' Oct. 8

"Boy, that was dull, wasn't it? Oh, my God. I guess this time they went with the town hall format. They use that because they say it demonstrates the next president's ability to think and talk at the same time, or as President Bush calls that, 'showing off.'”

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Stephen Colbert, on ‘The Colbert Report,’ Oct. 6

"Nation, what a debate last Thursday! Both candidates surpassed expectations. Sarah Palin proved she could speak, and Joe Biden proved he could stop speaking."

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Bill Maher, on ‘Real Time with Bill Maher,’ Oct. 3

"The big headline today is that [Palin] exceeded expectations, which is like saying Andy Dick only drank half a bottle of Woolite."

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Conan O'Brien, on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien,' Oct. 8

“ Larry Flynt announced he’s making a porn movie with a Sarah Palin look-alike. John McCain called the idea offensive. Barack Obama called it inappropriate. Bill Clinton said he’ll reserve judgment until he sees the film.”

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Seth Meyers, on Thursday night's 'SNL' special, Oct. 9

"As stocks dropped sharply Monday, President Bush urged patience with the government's new $700-billion plan, saying it's going to take a while. The good news is, he's never been right."

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Craig Ferguson, on 'Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,' Oct. 9

"At a concert last week [ Madonna] said she was going to kick Sarah Palin’s ass. I’m thinking I’d quite like to see that. That’s going to be a sexy little underpants pillow fight. Like Madonna tries to poke out the eyes with her pointy cone bra and Palin's well-protected with the naughty librarian glasses. Get out of my dreams and into my shiny-floored studio. But Madonna and Sarah Palin are very different, of course. One is a dangerously insane celebrity who has no business discussing politics and the other one is Madonna, so right there..."

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Michelle Obama and Jon Stewart, on 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,' Oct. 8

Michelle Obama (asked about reading negative press): "You know I’ve stopped reading and watching a lot of stuff --"
Jon Stewart: "-- so you’re a lot like Sarah Palin."

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Amy Poehler, on Thursday night's 'SNL' special, Oct. 9

"The second presidential debate was held Tuesday night, and the town hall format featured an audience comprised of a diverse cross-section of eighty undecided bald dudes."