I TOLD YOU SO

I told you the United States would get beat and eliminated from the World Baseball Classic and I was right. It's the two teams that play the game correctly: Korea and Japan. It will be psychological warfare tonight. Should be very exciting and intense. Oh - and I'm doing pretty damn good in my NCAA brackets as well.....look out for Missouri to upset Memphis. I'm now worried about the Arizona / Louisville game. I picked Louisville to win it all but Arizona is my alma mater? What is one to do? After yesterday, I can't wait to have a place with 3 or 4 large flat screens.......to many good sporting events on at the same time. I need a sports room....a major sports room. It will happen....I don't know when, but it will happen.

MOVIES

Who has time to discuss movies today with all this sports stuff going on. OK.....let me rack my brain a second. OK - Mary Poppins - that's it. My daughter watched it this weekend and I kept going into the room to sneak peaks....yes, Julie Andrews is great but Dick Van Dyke can do it all. What a wonderful person...actor, dancer, singer.......by the way - whatever happened to the actor/dancer/singer......do those people exist any more? OK - Hugh Jackman on the Academy Awards......I admit...he surprised me. It's nice to see people with that much talent make it. There are so many others with NO talent that make it and I never understand how and why.

MUSIC

I'm preparing a ton of piano concerti - so today I'm just giving props to Artur Rubenstein and Martha Argerich. Artur for his incredibly musical Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 which can be seen on youtube. It is effortless...it is gorgeous, it is stylistically difficult to duplicate. It all looks so easy and each phrase is so perfect. Argerich gets props for her almost unhuman technical dexterity in everything she plays.....and once again - effortless. Yes, she is very musical but I think it is her speed and power, in addition to her knowledge of so much repertoire that makes her.....dare I say a freak of nature. She is amazing as is he.

GRIPE OF THE DAY

Nascar? Yes - here is the problem. There is an overtime system....when there is a caution flag with under 5 laps left they add a few laps to the end of the race. Here is the problem. They add two laps whether it is a 2 1/2 mile monster track or a 1/2 mile small oval. How about 2 laps for the big tracks, 4 laps for the medium tracks and 6-8 for the small tracks. Are ya hearing me NASCAR?????? That 2 lap overtime yesterday took about 45 seconds......that ain't no overtime y'all.