Warbling from the Front Lines

• CNet: "'MySpace Tom' lied about his age. Yawn." I guess I see something more to the story -- yes, people give false details on social networking sites (and elsewhere online), but doesn't it go further when those details are part of one's marketing and business image?
• And in a totally different direction, one woman's story of life beyond patrynomy.  I definitely understand wanting to challenge convention and culture, and wanting to shed the bonds of "property" that once accompanied a woman's move from father's home to husband's home... but the impracticality of shunning any kind of last name (as detailed in this story) slides too far into the absurd.
  

• Nicole Atkins -- I guess I wasn't that far off, since she's now starring in an American Express ad. 
• The Jersey squirrels aren't contaminated after all -- it seems that the lab that previously found heavy metals in the carcasses had faulty test protocols.  Hooray.

• The good people at Idolator do one better on the real meaning of Halloween in 2007 than I could manage. 
  

The inevitable sour grapes from the peanut gallery have begun.  For those who don't have first-hand experience with life at Fenway before pink hats and "Sweet Caroline" and Monster Seats, please adjust your attitude.

Don't try to take away my joy just because your team blew the big mid-season division lead until you are scarred for life by Bucky [expletive deleted] Dent and Captain Carl popping out to end the game.  Try living through 1986, 1999, and 2003 ... never mind the painful events (e.g. 1946, 1967) from the era before some car salesman more-or-less finagled a perfectly fine (if financially challenged) team away from Seattle. 

Please understand that the real fans are neither smug nor condescending.  To be honest, I barely remember the 2004 World Series -- after the ALCS comeback, everything else was just a blur.  This time around, it was possible to enjoy the event. If the Brew Crew finally establishes some level of consistency in the frustratingly mediocre NL Central, I'll be happy for them.  For now, Mr. Haudricourt, let us enjoy the experience.