On tap: three nights at Hotel Boheme, in San Fran, traveling west with the Savage man. We were hoping to grab a brew with the man formerly know as Johnny Huh?, but I dont; think that's going tp happen. That makes me 0-3 when it comes to blogger encounters.

Quick clink to the riders here that no longer have that paternal magnet in their lives. Today would have been my dad's 59th. Raise a glass to what you are because of both his presence and his absence.

In the spirit of the Mint, read that in which ever direction the mood fits.

PS: I work with one of these guys. Maybe he'll ask me to make a cameo in the next one - that cresent kick was piss poor.

Face down in the gutter,
won't admit defeat though his clothes are soiled and black,
he's a big strong man with a child's mind,
don't you take his booze away... (hey!)

As a follow-up to Savage's post with Flogging Molly, which I really liked btw, I have to put up the Dropkick Murphys. These tracks remind me of single-eyed a man, with a set of guns that could crush your skull and a penchant for violence that warms a bitter man's heart. If you only listen to one track, find the Do or Die album in the Jams and give Bar Room Hero a spin.

Direct link to the playlist and the Mint Jams for your convenince.

If you're not white-knuckling your favorite libation and thrashing around halfway through that track you are a sad, sad fellow, indeed.

Well, DC, it was fun. Ok, not a lot of fun, but still, it was decent, and it may happen that I'll be back your way again. But for now, it's onwards and upwards. Almost literally, depending on your view of things.

Work and life demands are pushing The Wife and me north to Pittsburgh. I'll be at the same, world-renowned think tank (yes, I actually do get paid to sit and think about shit), and The Wife will be running an economic development initiative for a partnership between the state and the local universities.

Why there? Why now?

Why not? Seriously. DC's been fine, but the more time you spend here the more it gets to you. My particular peeve is that, somehow, despite the diversity, most of the people you see all look somehow the same. The same outfits, same sort of look, roughly the same age, all carrying the same books/magazines, and all headed towards roughly the same job: helping the government spend money. Of course, I do that last thing (well, I like to think I help find ways to AVOID spending money stupidly), so I can't complain about it too much. But after visiting other cities, you realize the country is full of people doing great things that have nothing to do with the vagaries of federal politics. Even the radio is different; it's not a 24/7 barrage of "analysis" about the latest idiotic statements from whatever senator got a burr up his or her ass that morning.

Pittsburgh had a job option for me, eventually had one for The Wife, and has housing that's around 30% cheaper than DC. Throw in some great schools for a shot at a PhD, a livability that is far and away better than DC (seriously, I can barely imagine the relief of not having to spend 45-60 minutes going SEVEN FUCKING MILES to work), and you can count me sold.

Oh, and they have a brewery in a church. (Serving excellent pizza, btw.)

There's a chance we'll hate it. But you never know until you try. So, please pardon the already spotty posting. I'll try to update y'all on the move, but it's been nuts already.

TheMint400.com.

Maybe we can work out a deal; our six viewers for their women. Note: the bottle in Linda Carter's right hand is on my shelf, the one in her left is on billy's

That's about all I have to say

What a bunch of schmucks and how embarrassing for the city. Way to lay a $300 million egg on the national scene. Pa-fucking-thetic... everybody. I've seen a more interesting effort at a god damn bake sale. Eat shit and die, in a professional athletic sense of the phrase. You suck, huge member.

Cannot wait until next year's con-game.

(Now that's a duck.)

Kelsi Metzler | Oregon

Go Cubs - and take the Sox and the Bears with you.

Did anybody think that the team that was swept by the 90-loss Marlins, in the last week of the season, when all they needed was the series and they would have had the division crown, was going to beat the 90-win Diamondbacks in a five-game series?

$300 million gets you: 13th in batting average; 18th in RBIs; 21st in HRs; and 26th in walks.

I'm up for revising the playoff entrance exams. From now on, the mlb should accept the teams with the top four records, regardless of division. This will avoid the post seasaon from becoming the playooofs. The Padres are sick to their stomachs.

The Cubs have officially cured me of baseball. When does the National Fighting League open up?

I put on my 1984 Cubs Underoos, too.

Ina conversation with Bergeron and Dutch over the weekend. Bergeron mentioned that Mark DeRosa would be his vote for league MVP. Now, I'm pretty sure he said that with a full heart and half-full beer glass. None the less, Mark has a blog that actually accepts comments. How about that?

Does anybody know if the games will televised by a local carrier? I find it hard to believe that the MLB would alientate fans that do not have TBS, or cable service. And if that's the case, that is very sad indeed. Mostly because people will not be abe to watch the games. But partly because I will not be able to watch the games in HD.

Did anybody see Michael Barrett in the wildcard playoff game last night? I sure like Michael when he was a cub, except for his inability to catch the ball, coupled with his inability to gun runners down at any base... well mostly for his fight with AJ Pierzynski a few years back. Makes me smile every time I see him land that fist on that asshole's face.

And then there's Kyle and Cincinatti and Detroit, for that matter. What a goddam stud.