Jeffrey Loria is an idiot, and other observations

OK, NORMALLY I WOULDN'T call a man with more money than God an idiot. It seems poor form, and probably on the surface flat-out incorrect.

But he is. And here is the proof.

See, Jeffrey Loria owns the Florida Marlins. And today, the team fired its manager, ex-New York Yankees player and coach Joe Girardi.

From what I can tell, Girardi is something of a jerk, or at least as brusque as his buzzcut.

But he took the youngest team in baseball, with its lowest payroll, within a dachshund's hair of a .500 record and a playoff berth. He might be National League manager of the year. With that team, he should be in the running for manager of the decade.

For that, he got fired the day after the season ended, basically because the owner, who ripped the team apart for the sake of something green and with dead presidents on it, and the GM, who played along, don't like him.

That's. Just. Stupid.

I'm not a Marlins fan, so the heck with 'em. I know (of) Girardi from his days with the Yankees, and he'll get another job (possibly with his hometown Chicago Cubs, another team in need of a lift) and land on his feet. Probably more than can be said for the Marlins. Frankly, no offense to the new manager, I hope they stink up the joint next year.

It would serve Loria right for letting his ego take precedent over his fans' chance to see a winning team.

And now for something completely different...

I saw the coolest thing on my flight back from San Francisco this weekend. I was in the middle seat on the red-eye, but the window shade was open in my row, so I happened to be up as we flew near... a thunderstorm.

So we were in a cloudless part of the sky, but off to the left, there was a city and high above, light flickering amid the clouds. Then, BAM!

Lightning. Striking the city.

I don't know where we were, but they must have been having a heckuva storm. I was transfixed. Bolt after bolt, crystal clear, flashing from the clouds high above to the city lights below.

I love flying when you can see the cities and other sights below. And this was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

Another random catch-up observation from my vacation week...

OK, I'm on the BART system going to the airport - stunningly shiny and clean compared with NJ Transit - and I nearly smacked the lady sitting behind me.

Why?

Well, I'm minding my own business, reading my book, and scratching an itch on the back of my head. See, I have a little bump or something on the back of my head, about the size of a bad zit, maybe, and inevitably, when I get my hair cut, it gets nicked by the clippers. (It's under the part of my hair I get buzzed short.)

So it's always a bit of a scab and, as a result, itchy.

Suddenly, the lady behind me asks if I need help! Like, not that she's grossed out or exactly offended (I realize it's sort of poor form to sit there rubbing an itch, but it's not like I was flaking dandruff into her coffee or something), but like, in a crazy way that suggests either she really did want to help, or maybe it was some breach of BART policy to scratch in public.

I didn't even get my head all the way around to stare daggers at her, when she hopped out of her seat and fled the car.

What the hell?

"Mortal Kombat" and more...
One more week to "MK: Armageddon." I'm getting twitchy with excitement. Really, really twitchy. So twitchy I'll probably buy the video game guide, something I never do, and have to keep resisting the temptation to call the store I preordered from and ask them when it'll be in. Every day. ... "The Descent" and "Snakes on a Plane" will hit DVD at the end of December and start of January, respectively. I can't wait for that, either. Hey, patience isn't one of my virtues. ... Oh, and sorry for the weird width on "My Lousy Taste in Music" below - one of the songs on the "SoaP" soundtrack has a super-long name. I can't figure out how to fix it, and since iScrobbler isn't working with my latest version of iTunes and my iPod, well, you'll just have to bear with me.