DLD 4/1/09: alien snuggies and verse from a not-so beautiful mind

1. A Wolff and Dellums powwow is set for mid-April. Marine Layer has yet to weigh in, but I think this quote provides the nuance and insight we’re looking for here is a quote I think usefully describes the conundrum [edited to eschew unbecoming passive-aggressive derision]:

“I’d love to see them stay in the city where they belong,” said Nico Pemantle, who manages a fan Web site called [redacted]. “But I have sympathy for the owners. There’s a lot of passion among A’s fans to keep them in Oakland, but there’s also a lot of empty seats at the Coliseum.”

2. Vegas Watch is running an MLB win totals over/under contest ($500 first prize). The A’s number is 81.5.

If the many pointy-headed (and I mean that in the most admiring and, frankly, jealous sense) denizens of Free Kraut choose to enter, I am certain they will dominate the competition.

3. Apparently Gameday data has made Questec expendable.

4. It is as if Russell Crowe is trying to be insufferable:

If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue, walk with kings but not lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much;

yours is the earth and everything that’s in it and what’s more, you’ll be a man.

5. This is an April Fools joke:

A mammoth project is also under way to rewrite the whole of the newspaper’s archive, stretching back to 1821, in the form of tweets. Major stories already completed include “1832 Reform Act gives voting rights to one in five adult males yay!!!”; “OMG Hitler invades Poland, allies declare war see tinyurl.com/b5x6e for more”; and “JFK assassin8d @ Dallas, def. heard second gunshot from grassy knoll WTF?”

This, alas, just reads like one:

Spider-man III does manage to offer a timely critique of the socio-political world that characterized those times. As the ensuing election proved, Americans were indeed fatigued of their own arrogance and propensity towards global domination. Arguably, these sorts of films helped pave the way by building awareness of the need for, and utility of coalition and dialogue, which are so central to the new administration.

“Arguably”, indeed.

6. Lastly … well, no commentary could possibly measure up to the spectacle. You will just have to click the link.