The Lightning Round

Lots of little stuff to get today, so let's get started with a check on the Go to the Polls for Placido! voting campaign.

** You never know how much of an impact a small little internet campaign can have on a large scale voting contest, but I would like to think the "Go to the Polls for Placido!" campaign is making an impact. From looking at my traffic reports I can see a lot of "outclicks" to the All Star Ballot and I can only hope and assume those are votes for Placido and the rest of the Detroit Tigers team. MLB should be releasing updated voting numbers in the next few days, hopefully by then Polanco will be leading the pack. I've also been thrilled with the amount of blogs and websites that I have helped to promote the campaign, it's been much appreciated. Here's a list of the blogs (that I know of) who have encouraged their visitors to Go to the Polls for Placido!

Gregg Henson of GreggHenson.com
Greg Eno of Out of Bounds and Where Have You Gone, Johnny Grubb?
Kurt of Mack Avenue Tigers
Samara of Roar of the Tigers
Ian of Bless You Boys
GreenPotatoes Live Journal
Rick of Rick's Writing Again
If I missed your blog/website, just let me know and we'll help spread the word. The more eyeballs on the campaign and voting for Tigers, the better chance Placido has of overtaking Cano, and who knows, maybe even Magglio Ordonez will climb into the starting outfield, as he certainly deserves that after his MVP-worthy first half so far. The campaign has also popped up on Digg.com, BallHype, and BallBug so it's getting around the internet. Thanks again to everyone for helping out.

** So what else is going on? I'm trying to read more. I wrote just over a month ago about a book shopping trip I had gone on, picking up five top titles I was looking forward to reading. Sadly, I haven't accomplished much on that front. And I blame the Detroit Tigers. Not really, but by the time I get home from work and have dinner, the Tigers have usually started playing, and they have taken priority over my books. But, with a night off tonight, I got back to Jon Meacham's American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation and it's been great so far. So far, the book has talked a lot about religion before the Founding, in the 1600 and 1700s in North America, and it's a fascinating read. I'm going to make more of an effort to spend more time reading going forward.



** Another reason why I haven't been reading is because this weekend, instead of picking up one of my many unread books, I was watching Seinfeld instead. Seinfeld - Season 8 was released on DVD last week and I watched probably 10 episodes on Sunday. Just hilarious. While likely not the "best" season of Seinfeld, it's still very very funny, and I've very much been enjoying the "Inside Looks" and "Yada Yada Yada" cast and crew commentaries (though, Jerry Seinfeld's commentaries are a bit disappointing as he spends most of the episodes laughing at the jokes). Great stuff.

And with that it's Monday night, which means it's time for Headlines on Leno. So, I'll leave you with a reminder to Go to the Polls for Placido!