Yes We Can video (Will.i.am and friends)

Redskins latest to whine about Qwest Field noise

SEATTLE, Wash. (from King5 Web site) – Like a very loud broken record, rumors that the noise supplied by Seattle Seahawks fans at Qwest Field may be artificially flavored is starting again.

The latest volley in the controversy comes from a member of the Washington Redskins, who play the Seahawks this Saturday. It's a rematch of a playoff game two years ago which the Seahawks won 20-10 on their way to Super Bowl XL.

Running back Mike Sellers thinks the crowd noise is piped in, saying, "That place had to be miked up because the last time we played there, it was ridiculous. We couldn't hear ourselves talk. For a stadium that small, it can't be that loud."

Just to add insult, Sellers is a Washington native. He's from Lacey and went to school at Walla Walla Community College.

The Seahawk faithful say they've heard this sour grapes song before.

"It's to the point where it makes your chest pound. It's that loud inside the stadium. There's no way in the world with science and technology that we could put that much sound in the stadium artificially," said Nafve Terry, drummer for the Blue Thunder drum team.

Back in 2006, the NFL actually stepped into investigate after accusations the noise was too good to be true. No wrong-doing was found and the team flatly and repeatedly said it did nothing illegal at game time.

"Everyone who knows us and who's been here knows that we don't pump in anything artificial. It's all our fans, and they have learned to do that. I think it's a learned activity for them. They realize how much they help us," said coach Mike Holmgren.

"Sometimes, just sometimes, there are nights like this."

Andrew Sullivan gets it done and provides the You Tube of Obama's Iowa victory speech (below).

Excellent stuff -- it turned out Obama (38%), Edwards (30%), Clinton (29%). Andrew sticks his neck out a little bit with this quote, but I'm in if he is:

"Simply put: he sounded like a president. The theme was not just change; it was a new unity. And as a black man, he helps heal the past as well as forge the future. This really was history tonight. To win so many white voices, and bring together so many minorities, and use the unifying language that leaves the toxins of race and partisanship behind: This was the moment America stopped being afraid.
This was the America we have missed and have found again."

Big bike crash

A pretty good wipeout in the Boys Future Stars race from the Revolution 2 track cycling event in Melbourne -- at Vodafone Arena, Wednesday night (12/19/07).

Taylor first ever to be posthumously voted to Pro Bowl

Sean Taylor was voted to the NFC Pro Bowl team posthumously on Tuesday, three weeks after after he was shot during a burglary at his Florida home.

The Washington Redskins defensive back got a starting position on the team at free safety. He was having an outstanding season and was among the leaders in fan balloting for a team selected by a combination of fans, players and coaches.

"It is well-deserved," Redskins center Casey Rabach said. "If he would have been able to finish the season, he would have been in there. It just shows the respect everybody around the league had for him and what a great player he was."

Jesus: Too liberal for America?

A 60-second spot we'd like to see:



(From Sullivan.)

NY Times: Discord in the Seattle Symphony

The bad: "To judge from alarmist reports coming from here over a dozen years or so, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra has carried disharmony to new heights, lurching from crisis to crisis. There have been allegations of vandalism aimed at players, including a dented French horn and a razor blade planted in a mailbox; a players’ survey that condemned the conductor only to be deep-sixed by management; and lawsuits filed by players accusing the conductor of mental if not physical abuse."

The good: "Yet even as this soap opera has unfolded, the orchestra has continued its rise from regional ensemble to national presence. With a current roster of 88 and a budget of $22 million, it plays in one of America’s finest modern auditoriums, Benaroya Hall. It also churns out recordings while others remain mute and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2004. It has a large and loyal audience and, as of this season, a balanced budget at a time when neither can be taken for granted."

Crazy stuff. Here's the rest.