Olé! Olé! Olé! A new AL East Division Champ has been crowned! Congratulations to the Baltimore Orioles! After years of Yankee and Red Sox domination, there's a new sheriff in town. Well done, Os. I'm happy for all the Orioles fans here, too. I know you've waited a long time. It's weird how Baltimore clinched before the Angels, even though the Angels have the best record by far in MLB. But it won't be long...our magic number for winning the AL West grows smaller by the day. Don't worry, Rick...the only way Baltimore and Anaheim meet in the playoffs is in the ALCS. So there's a good chance the Angels lose the first series and Baltimore avoids having to play the Angels.

Are the CPs back from their trip to Portugal? I expect a detailed list of every port they drank on their little vacation.

They weren't bad, and even had some moments of transcendence..."Superunknown" was their crowning achievement. But, with the exception of the early shows I saw around 1988-1990, they were kind of boring live. Not as much charisma as you would hope from a singer of Chris Cornell's stature, and the rest of the band were visual bores. I saw them again for the first time since the 1996 Down on the Upside tour, when they opened for Nine Inch Nails at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. A decent show, but nothing mesmerizing...and once again, they didn't play my favourite song from "Superunknown": "Head Down"

The same can be said of Stuart Sutcliffe. I'm not sure if I need to pony up for the deluxe mono box of Beatles vinyl. I have the stereo and mono cd deluxe boxes that came out a few years ago, as well as some of the original Beatles vinyl from the 60s. Plus, unlike Led Zeppelin, Velvet Underground, Stooges, and other favourite groups of mine, the Beatles are still played everywhere so often that I can go months without ever feeling the need to put on a Beatle album. Every Sunday the local LA radio has a "Breakfast with the Beatles" show for several hours, where they play deep cuts and even unreleased tracks and bootleg live stuff. $4000 for the same Beatles I already own? No thanks, I'll save my money for the Zeppelin boxes.

I am. And that 3.7.70 show is in my list of top 10 Zeppelin concerts.

Lush was an instant success when they opened here. By now there are at least eight shops in the Los Angeles area. That I know of, that is...there could be even more. Practically every woman I know drools at the sight of them...and my vegan/vegetarian friends, too. Nemea is right, the aroma in the shop alone is intoxicating enough to make you want to stay all day. For the fashion savvy, I discovered this fascinating blog by Chiara Ferragni recently and had to share it here with Les Femmes Zeppelin: http://www.theblondesalad.com/

Hey man, it's a hundred frikkin' degrees out here! Wouldn't you rather be at the beach in such circumstances?

May 22, 1977 Ft. Worth, TX (Thank you, Sue! )

Thanks to Sue, I'm listening to this show now. I'll still get the show on silvers...I refuse to stop collecting bootleg vinyl and silver cds. But I may wait for Godfatherecords to come out with their version instead of getting EVSD's, especially if Godfather patches the cuts with the audience tape like Sue did.

Someone asked for a Fabulous Blonde and Lo! planted was born! Happy birthday to one of the most fabulous blondes I know. I'm sure you'll make your day a splendid one. Many birthday wishes to you and birthday toasts.

Good for you. Wild and natural is the way to go, in my opinion. Especially if we are talking "Celtic wild".

This is the last week of 16-game schedules before teams start getting their bye weeks next week. Which means it is your last best chance to get double-digits in the win column for a while, hehe. Don't forget to get your picks in for the Thursday game of Tampa Bay @ Atlanta. Good luck. Week 3 Schedule Thursday Tampa Bay @ Atlanta Sunday Baltimore @ Cleveland Dallas @ St. Louis Green Bay @ Detroit Houston @ NY Giants Indianapolis @ Jacksonville Minnesota @ New Orleans Oakland @ New England San Diego @ Buffalo Tennessee @ Cincinnati Washington @ Philadelphia San Francisco @ Arizona Denver @ Seattle Kansas City @ Miami Pittsburgh @ Carolina Monday Chicago @ NY Jets

Angels magic number is 3.

Yeah, that's because he paid those refs who practically gift-wrapped that victory for Philly with those two horrible gaffes late in the game. First, the non-call on the pass interference when Philly intercepted the ball late in the fourth quarter. Indy was up 7 and about to tack on another 7, or 3 at least, when that happened. Next, on Philly's ensuing drive, Indy tackles the Philly RB for a loss, making it 3rd and long. Wait, a ref has called a 15-yard personal foul for a horse-collar tackle that WASN'T!!!! EVERYONE in the studio, in the officials booth, in New York, in the world, knows that was a bogus call. So instead of Philly having a 3rd and long in their own territory, they have a first down near midfield. No matter...the final blame rests not with the refs. After Philly tied the score against an obviously gassed Indy defense, there was still enough time for Andrew Luck to march down the field and kick the winning field goal. Except that the Indy coaches turned into wimps. Instead of trusting Luck and putting the game in his hands, they called two predictable boring runs up the middle that netted zero. Now you're in third-and-long and the Eagles pass rushers can pin their ears back. Once Philly got the ball back, it was a foregone conclusion that the Eagles would win. Thanks a little to the refs. But also a big thanks to the Colts coaches for turning into pussies. Call a game like a wimpy coward, and you deserve to lose like a wimpy coward. And even though Indianapolis is now 0-2, re Walter's question, it's not that surprising to me as the Saints being 0-2. The Colts, remember, are the team that gave up 45 points to Kansas City last year. And Kansas City was another playoff fraud that used smoke and mirrors (and an easy schedule) to get to the playoffs.

As I suspected, it was a wacky week with lots of blood spilled on people's pick sheets. This allowed for some movement in the standings...some people tumbled, some rose to the top. Philadelphia's unlikely (thanks refs) win created a three-way tie for first for the week. Congratulations to apantherfrommd, ebk, and Walter for not sucking as bad as the rest of us...9-7 was good enough to put you in first place. Week 2 results: apantherfrommd: 9-7* ebk: 9-7* Walter: 9-7* Bong-Man: 8-8 in_the_evening: 8-8 jabe: 8-8 jb126: 8-8 mack: 8-8 LedZeppfan77: 7-9 paul carruthers: 7-9 Strider: 6-10 Anjin-san: 5-11 zepscoda: 3-13 Season Standings: 1. Walter*: 19-13 2. in_the_evening: 18-14 2. jb126: 18-14 2. LedZeppfan77*: 18-14 3. jabe: 17-15 3. mack: 17-14 4. Anjin-san*: 16-16 4. Bong-Man: 16-16 4. paul carruthers: 16-16 4. Strider: 16-16 5. apantherfrommd*: 15-17 5. ebk*: 15-17 6. zepscoda: 9-22 * = Winner of the week.

Yeah, probably should wait...but no matter the result tonight, I concur woth Paul on the Saints being the biggest surprise 0-2 team. They miss pottedplant cheering them on in person.

Week 2 Scores 6 - Pittsburgh @ Baltimore - 26 10 - Miami @ Buffalo - 29 10 - Jacksonville @ Washington - 41 26 - Dallas @ Tennessee - 10 25 - Arizona @ NY Giants - 14 30 - New England @ Minnesota - 7 24 - New Orleans @ Cleveland - 26 10 - Atlanta @ Cincinnati - 24 7 - Detroit @ Carolina - 24 19 - St. Louis @ Tampa Bay - 17 21 - Seattle @ San Diego - 30 30 - Houston @ Oakland - 14 24 - NY Jets @ Green Bay - 31 17 - Kansas City @ Denver - 24 28 - Chicago @ San Francisco - 20 Going into MNF, here's where we stand... ebk: 9-6 Walter: 9-6 apantherfrommd: 8-7 Bong-Man: 8-7 jabe: 8-7 jb126: 8-7 mack: 8-7 in_the_evening: 7-8 paul carruthers: 7-8 LedZeppfan77: 6-9 Strider: 6-9 Anjin-san: 5-10 zepscoda: 3-12

I'm eating like a bear at work today...munching on berries and nuts.

Happy anniversary Jules, to you and yours! Here's to true love! What an amazing opportunity Nemea. Looks like a fun time was had by all.

Judging by the Seattle TD they allowed, apparently not.

And thanks to me having to work today, I won't be able to see any of the game. Nice win by your 'Boys, by the way. My Cowboy-loving brothers will be happy for a change.

It's what I always say...take a dome team outside on grass and they're usually frauds. Atlanta and Detroit today are prime examples. Matty Ice melts outdoors.

Sorry jabe...no special dispensations. Raiders @ New England next week...aka The Massacre at Foxboro.

As it stands now, Rick, Dodgers are up 2 games on the Giants so yes, a W today puts LA 3 games ahead of SF. In the AL, Angels are 11 games ahead of Oakland and 5 games ahead of Baltimore for best record in the league.

Carolina 6 Detroit 0 at the half...goddamn Lions. Will they ever play up to their capabilities? This team should be a playoff team. It shouldn't be up and down like a yo-yo. Saints losing to Cleveland is also a concern for Saints fans. Starting in an 0-2 hole is not how I projected their season.