But the illness that took hold this past weekend made me angry. I’ve been oddly motivated and productive recently, and had many important things to accomplish. But the headache, body aches and sore throat arrested my ability to focus. And the fever-dreaming and hallucinating-like sleep that tortured me throughout Sunday night made me fearful of the next slumber.

So I fought that flu and slayed it with the steely swords from a thousand warriors who . . . and here the metaphor escapes me. And so the blog ends.

No Take Backs
Perhaps the process for electing a lieutenant governor is flawed. Maybe the position itself is irrelevant. And I most definitely don’t want Scott Lee Cohen any where near the governor’s office. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t get screwed.

Party leaders shouldn’t get a do over just because they don’t like the way the people voted. Blagojevich got a second term despite proving in the first that he was a scoundrel.

Cohen revealed the domestic abuse arrest at the beginning of the campaign, but nobody paid attention. He spent a bunch of money on ads and persuaded more people to vote for him than the other candidates did. He won. The people of Illinois lost.

Breaking the Blue Line
The threat of layoffs to procure union concessions during budget negotiations is not a new tactic. I wonder, however, if any consideration is given to the atmosphere that is created when people’s livelihood is put into the hands of their co-workers.

There are 30 police officers who now know that a majority of their colleagues voted to give no ground. If they were so inclined, these unfortunate flatfoots could choose to believe that their friends on the force valued a raise over their fellow officers’ jobs. That could make for some sore feelings, could it not?

I realize that they’re geared towards the young and stupid at heart, but with the right ads I might be compelled to spend a bit more of my snack dollar on tortilla-based snack products. Come on, Doritos, sell my on some of your delicious nacho chips want don’t you?

That said, I did like the Google ad. It was sweet and simple. Although as an ad man friend pointed out, why does Google need to advertise?

The Letterman/Oprah/Leno spot was also well played. I don’t remember which of the three shows it was promoting, but it was timely and the punch line was sharp.

2 – Bob Harris met Charlotte while in Tokyo shooting a Suntory Whiskey commercial in this movie.

3 – His booming voice reminds us that "This, is CNN."

4 – Nothing came between Brook Shields and this brand of designer jeans.

5 – This venerated thespian insisted that Paul Masson "will sell no wine, before its time."

6 – This actor has been the voice of Lowe’s and the Oppenheimer Fund, and also played a guy named Popeye.

7 – Faith Hill, Tyra Banks, Keri Russell, Christie Brinkley and Ellen DeGeneres have all provided a face to this company.

8 – Bob Hope served as spokesman for Chrysler and this petroleum retailer.

9 – A recent GoDaddy TV spot features this race car driver getting hit on by a comely female police officer.

10 – Wilco’s The Thanks I Get was heard on commercials for this auto manufacturer.

I say this not to voice my indifference, but as a carefully considered conclusion that steroids shouldn’t be banned.

The common refrain is that McGuire and his juicing cohorts are cheaters who gained an unfair advantage. Some are particularly offended on behalf of the players from the pre-steroids era whose fallen records are seen as pure acts of athleticism. This is where the anti-steroid argument loses its way, in my opinion.

The modern player has countless advantages over his predecessors, advantages that have raised his level of play. Advances in nutrition and kinesiology. The use of weight training and conditioning. Corrective surgeries and procedures. Steroids, which do have a legitimate purpose, seem to fit right along with these other scientific and technological aids.

No one would suggest that a pitcher who had his career extended an extra five years thanks to a groundbreaking surgical procedure should have his additional victories asterisked out of the record book.

I know that the use of steroids for performance enhancing purposes is illegal. I assume this is because they’re harmful to one’s body when abused. Yet I would argue that being a professional athlete is harmful to one’s body.

How many players suffer career-ending injuries or leave the game with permanent afflictions? I’m not sure, but I’d say pretty many. I can’t pretend to care so much about them as human beings that I would oppose steroid use on the grounds that users might become infertile if I don’t have an equal concern for pitchers’ rotary cuffs as the result of throwing a ball repeatedly at a high velocity.

Again in my opinion, the advantage McGuire gained by taking steroids isn’t that much different than the advantage some other player gained by being an obsessive health nut. Both required sacrifice in exchange for a benefit. If steroids prove to have a disproportionate downside, there use will diminish on its own. 

I’m not sure if she assumed that the $2 socket adapter she had just rung up was some sort of trinket to be placed under the tree or if I just looked ripe to have my holiday proclivities questioned, but she took the lead on the transaction conversation.

She told me, in her friendly British accent, that she personally doesn’t care for Christmas. She added that she gives her daughter money in the summer to buy stuff for her (the daughter’s) children, but that she (the cashier) doesn’t buy gifts for her grandchildren. It was stated as if it was a principled stance, right down to picking summer as her season of giving so it couldn’t be misconstrued as a Christmas type thing.

When I countered that I do buy gifts and that it can make for some rough times financially, she looked at me with some degree of pity.

I suspect that if our chat had gone on further she would have gotten into more specifics on why she doesn’t like Christmas. Maybe it’s the over commercialization. Maybe it’s the religious aspects, or the secular ones. Or maybe she’s just a contrarian British expatriate looking to mix it up a with a Yank in a home improvement warehouse.

Given the nature of most retail interactions, that rarely rise above a mumble, I found this to be an odd yet worthwhile experience.

The important thing to note here is that I wasn’t offended.

Remember that when someone wishes you Merry Christmas. Or if they say Happy Holidays instead. Or Happy Chanukkah or Pleasant Kawanza or Super Solstice or Seasons Greetings or have a nice day.

Chances are they aren’t trying to offend you or presume anything about your personal beliefs. They’re just wishing you their best.

I knew this would be difficult, but the results were even more dismal than expected. Since most of you know most of these songs, I suppose it’s the result of how lyrics lose their mnemonic qualities when separated from the music.

The rest of the scores are as follows:

Senior de la Loyola – 7
Nancy – 6
Doug – 6
MB – 5
Laura – 4
Johann – 4
LFS – 1
AC – 1
Occula – turned on the Drive-by Truckers around Q9

Here are the results. I put the number of correct answers in ( )s.

1 She picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been.
Eleanor Rigby (10) by the Beatles – I started with a gimme and everyone but Josh knew it.

2 Will Smith doesn’t have to cuss in his raps to sell records, but this guy does and he doesn’t give a damn about a Grammy.
Slim Shady (4) from the Real Slim Shady by Eminem – If you’d paid attention to the rules you’d have known that Eminem or Marshall Mathers couldn’t have been correct.

3 She gave good face.
Rita Hayworth (6) from Vogue by Madonna – If I were taking this quiz, I would have gotten the song, but possibly would have guessed the wrong old starlet.

4 He had a dream one night that the tree had lost its middle so he built a trunk of chicken wire.
Wendell Gee (3) by REM – One of the more obscure songs in the quiz, but I’m still surprised at some of you.

5 She’s a lover, baby and a fighter.
Dani California (5) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers – I wanted something recent. If I had used "mourn ya" in the clue would you have gotten it?

6 He sounded sad upon the radio and moved a million hearts in mono.
Johnny Ray (4) from Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Kevin Rowland’s falsetto is somewhat difficult to decipher. Clearly you know this song.

7 She was poorly educated and forced to live on the poor side of town.
Jackie Brown (0) by John Mellencamp – Although this was a Top 40 hit, the lyric is pretty generic. I would have missed this one, as did all of you.

8 Children by the million scream for him, when he comes ’round.
Alex Chilton (4) by the Replacements – Somewhat obscure, but this is about as close to a hit as the Mighty Mats had. Again, some of you lost your indie cred by not getting it.

9 He was named the same as his daddy and his daddy before.
John Lee Pettimore (0) from Copperhead Road by Steve Earle – I’m absolutely flabbergasted no one got this. "My name’s John Lee Pettimore. Same as my daddy and his daddy before. You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here. He only came to town about twice a year." No? Nothing?

10 This poor boy was told to hang his head and cry.
Tom Dooley (4) traditional – You had music class in grade school, right?

11 She left a note on the door for her son, Anthony.
Mama Leone (7)  from Movin’ Out (Anthongy’s Song) by Billy Joel – Mr. De La Loyala wishes to quibble with the clue, claiming that there’s no definitive evidence that Anthony is Mama Leone’s son. I suppose he’s correct, but she does call him sonny and she’s Mama and De La L. answered correctly anyway, so I don’t see what the big deal is. Overrruled!

12 He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack.
Johnny B. Goode (7) by Chuck Berry – Another gimme, I thought.