The Severed Cortex

It's kind of hard to explain. You trade in the futures market just like you would a commodity such as sow bellies or oranges. The difference is the market you're trading in is politics and the candidates are the contracts, set to expire like any contra… more »

I haven't eaten here since the original owners sold the place, but I have to say I wasn't a great big fan before it was sold. I know it seems counter-intuitive for me to be ambivalent about a barbecue place closing in my back yard, but Redz Rib Shack co… more »

Today I woke up with a little dry, tickly, kind of cough. Nothing major, but it did make me cough about every 6 minutes. So, on my way to work I thought I'd stop by the Walgreens and pick up some cough drops. I don't get sick very often and I can't re… more »

He's probably done for his career. more »

I'm usually pretty quiet about SEC basketball, but that's impossible for me today as State knocked off 15th ranked Ole Miss handily. That means State is undefeated in the SEC to start off conference play. Which is a pretty damn nice start if you ask me… more »

I finally caught Super Fun Yeah Yeah Rocket Ship at a lunch show at SIUE for a Livewire event. I've been trying for a couple of months to check out the guy voted best uncategorizable artist in the local Riverfront Times poll, and you'd think that becaus… more »

Wow. A rebel flag and pit bulls on your mug shot picture. Very classy. And you have the husband of the victim referring to the defendent as 'a skank', which based on the picture you'll get no argument from me. I'm assuming the whole thing took place… more »

I caught Hugh Laurie on a repeat of Saturday Night Live several months ago and I came away impressed. Everyone here in the States is already aware of his smart-ass acting chops from the show House so it wasn't a big surprise that he could translate that… more »

Is there anything better to do in January in the midwest than to go to the annual fishing show at the Gateway Convention Center? Yeah, there probably is, but when you combine it with the fact that Fun Stop is just across the street then there is no way… more »

How many of you actually pictured Sam and Alice making sweet, sweet, love? ... anybody? Just me? more »

Let's not fool ourselves. The only reason she's the Rams owner is because of her ... well, you know. But despite that, after she assumed ownership of the team when her husband died, she basically told the rest of the NFL owners to fuck off when they tr… more »

Another solid deal worked by Cards GM Mozeliak. I would have preferred to see less guaranteed money and more money offered in incentives, but overall not a bad deal. Ankiel is certainly not a proven commodity, but it's pretty obvious he's soaked up a b… more »

Record stores are virtually extinct. Independent record stores are even harder to come by, mostly due to the iPod age. Still, one of my favorite things to do is 'dig through the crates' searching for a bargain. Luckily here in St. Louis we have Vintag… more »

I find it amazing that you can have someone come in, give them a vague notion of something, and then they create a song in two days. And these aren't exactly crappy songs either. I'm so not worthy. more »

I had to get rid of the jellyfish. It's too distracting. I'll work on getting a better site design soon so I can scrap this design. Who knows. Maybe I'll do it the right way this time. more »

Hell yeah. Pay the man. more »

I gotta say I'm real nervous about how bad the Cardinals will be next year and a lot of that has to do with John Mozeliak at the helm. But I'll give credit where credit is due. Everyone in the world knew the Cardinals had to deal Scott Rolen and the co… more »

Barge number CC 7831 For those that might care, that's a Conti Carriers barge, the river transportation arm of Continental Grain. I guess I should say that used to be a Conti Carriers barge, which at one time was the river transportation arm of what us… more »

My mother would have never let me buy a copy of Creem magazine, say circa 1973 - 1979. Just look at some of those magazine covers. I'm sure my mom would have taken one look and told me to put it right back on the shelf. Heck, I was lucky to talk her i… more »

The barges had been tied to each other at the parking area. Really. The parking area?! It's called a fleet, moron. The towboat's impact strained the deck fittings. Wow. I've only seen that happen once. When we smacked a bridge. Somehow, I doubt… more »

It's been a long time since I've written about Robert, but that doesn't mean we haven't been hanging out with him. We've actually done something almost every week in December. Band Concert The last time I was at Robert's house, I saw a music case on… more »

When I was a kid in school we learned about Sir Edmund Hillary. I assumed that he was dead way back then so it's sort of a shock to hear that he's still alive. Well, not now of course, but you know what I mean. more »

Hope you like the new look to the site. If you don't see a significant difference from what it looked like before then your browser is holding something in the cache. Hit refresh and if that doesn't work, clear out your browser cache. I have to say I'… more »

I guess I stand corrected when I bitched about the mainstream media because they only show us the 'rock star' candidates. Chuck Hagel, Michael Bloomberg, Sam Nunn, William Cohen, and Gary Hart don't even have the makings of a decent polka band. Which,… more »

Joe Biden dropped out. I'm sure Chris Dodd won't make it to Illinois either. Look, I know Joe Biden isn't exactly the most fascinating guy on the planet, but he's clearly the most qualified for the job of president. Sure, he's going to say something… more »

It's OK if you want the starving children to die. I'm sure they won't mind. more »

Turn the speakers down if the kids are around. Plenty of F bombs lie within. more »

Why pick this as the subject? Why have Japanese aerobics instructors singing it? Were the Japanese trying to educate travelers to the U.S. by injecting questionable sentences into their morning workout? I'm confused. What could possibly be the reason… more »

Truer words have never been spoken. A co-worker sent this to me today with a note that read: "For some reason I thought of you…..this made me laugh out loud!". Why would she think of me and more importantly why would she laugh out loud at the expense… more »

Let's just say I had the insider track that the site was going up so a couple of the early posts are mine. See if you can guess which are mine. I'm interested to see how it does over time. Yes, I know that Opposite Jesus should have gone live around t… more »