It’s October 5.  That means I am 26 days away from a life-changing event – the purchase of an iPhone.

(Possibly.)

The stranglehold that Sprint has had on me for two years ends on Halloween, and at that point I think I might treat myself to an early Christmas present with the iPhone.  I’m not a tech nerd – I have a Treo now, but it’s purely for the purpose of impressing women and I have no idea how to do anything but call, text, play Monopoly, and take pictures of my penis in the shower with it.  So it’s a great machine.

But still, you just don’t get any sexier than the iPhone.  I mean, have you seen the son of a bitch?  Site Guy Brendan has one and is so obsessed with it that his fiancée Liz is seriously considering breaking their engagement so Brendan can live happily ever after with his iPhone.  If he could someone train the iPhone to be a Mets fan, I think Brendan might be ok with this. 

But I wanted to ask you all: Should I get one?  My buddies that already have the iPhone are such tech/Apple whores that I, just a plain ol’ regular Joe when it comes to technology, can’t trust their opinions.  Further, as much as I hate Sprint, I’m in no great rush to ditch my Treo, which has treated me well over the years.  Is it worth it to go month-to-month on my Sprint contract for a little while until Apple releases a new iPhone?  I should say that I’m especially sensitive to this; I recently bought a new iPod only to find out a week later that new iPods were released.  Fucking Apple assholes.

So I’m throwing it open to you guys – help me.  You’ve never steered me wrong before – except for that whole "S’ing one D does not make you gay" tactic (because apparently it does, Josh) – so if you have an opinion on whether to get the iPhone on 11/1, wait until the next one comes out, or not get one at all, drop me an email.

************************

Speaking of emails, I have been having tremendous, tremendous email problems with the jasonmulgrew.com email address.  First, there’s the incessant spamming that’s been going on for a few months now.  Which is awesome.  Then, apparently my inbox has been filled to 99% capacity since the beginning of the summer.  This does not mean that I’m popular, but that you guys sometimes send me songs that fill up a lot of space and I forget to delete them (by the way, please do not send me songs – just their names, please).  So I don’t think I’ve been getting every email that’s been sent to me by you all (as evinced by "Hey, Did you get my last email or what?" emails, when I have no idea what the person is talking about) and I know that I’ve sent emails out that have not been received.  Just a total, total clusterfuck.

But the good news: I think that Site Guy Brendan and I have finally fixed the problem, involving a complex series of forwarding, third parties, and two murders.  Feel free to continue to email me at jason_at_jasonmulgrew.com and I should be better at both receiving your emails and replying to them.  My apologies for the confusion in the first place, but I can’t say it enough – do not use ipowerweb for your web hosting needs.  They are a bunch of stink asses.

************************

Two quick sports notes:

1) Thank you for a memorable season, Phils.  No thank you for a forgettable playoffs.  Sheesh.

(Yeah, I know it’s only 2-0, but c’mon.  We’re done.  Thanks.)

2) Thank you for all the responses to my fantasy baseball/pride post.  The most frequent question that was asked: Which three are you keeping?

Well, I’m definitely keeping Utley.  I also think I’m keeping Ryan Braun – I expect a drop off next year, but he’s a guy who was drafted #5 overall (in the real baseball draft), crushed in the minors and majors, and will soon have dual position eligibility at 3B and OF – and he’s 23 years old.  I wouldn’t mind locking up David Wright-lite for the next 10+ years.   

After that, I’m not sure, because I feel like half of my team will be drafted in that first round of the draft (since we’re keeping three guys, it’d be the fourth round overall).  Berkman, Rios, Byrnes, Sabathia, Webb, Bedard and possibly even Upton and Carlos Guillen are all worthy fourth round picks in a keeper league.  Some I like more than others.  I could keep one of the pitchers, favoring in order Sabathia (really fat, on a good team and a lot of K’s), Webb (kinda boring numbers but consistently very good) and Bedard (love the K’s, but will he ever get more than 13 wins on the Orioles – and yes, I know he was on pace for more before getting hurt), but I don’t like to keep pitchers.  Maybe I’ll go with Upton, because I like his dual eligibility and 30-30 potential.  But we’ll see.  I have until March 1 to decide and may make some moves before then. 

************************

Six Bets

No major line movements during the week and some downright ugly games that scare the hell out of me.  At least I don’t have to watch the latest Eagles’ disaster this weekend.  Christ. 

TEXANS (-5) over Miami
I really like Houston and Miami hurt me last Sunday – Uncle Jason’s ate a lot of doritos and bologna for dinner this week.  Not that that had anything to do with Miami costing me money, but I thought it was worth mentioning. 

Jets (+3) GIANTS
My weekly contrarian pick.  Believe it or not, more people are betting on the Giants than any other team in the NFL this week, so as per my usual, I’ll throw a couple of bones on the Jets.  I’ll also say that, aside from maybe Ravens-49ers, this is the game I’m least interested in watching this week, but of course I’ll have no choice but to do so. 

Browns (+16.5) over PATS
My weekly "No fucking idea" pick.  Of all the games this week, this has betters most divided – almost exactly half are taking the Browns and the points and the other half are taking the Pats.  Since about 51.5% are taking the Pats, I’ll take the Browns and the points.  Have I mentioned the Pats are cheaters?  It’s not good karma.  And that is a lot of f’ing points, even if the Pats have been beating people by an average score of 44 to -9. 

Chargers (+1.5) over BRONCOS
It just has to be this way.

(Note that this is the worst way to bet a game is by saying, "It just has to be this way."  That’s loser talk.  Bet the mortgage on the Broncos.)

Bears (+3) over PACKERS
I mean, Green Bay can’t get to 5-0, can they?  Really? 

(Note that this is the second worst logic to use when betting a game.  Total loser talk.  Bet the mortgage on the Packers.)

BILLS (+10) over Cowboys
No reasoning except that the Cowboys scare the hell out of me, I hate them, and the Bills could use any support they can get right now.  I may regret saying it, but they may not be a bad little team the rest of the season, those Bills. 

Prediction on Predictions: I’m feeling 2-4 this week.

************************

Six Songs

"Aynotchesh Yererfu"  The Budos Band
FUNK, baby – this is what I’m talking about.  If this doesn’t get you groovin’, you are destined to be forever without groove.  I love these types of instrumental funk jams, so if you have any more suggestions like these guys, let me know. 

"Take Me With U"  Prince
I can’t disguise
The pounding of my heart
It beats so strong.
It’s in your eyes
What can I say
They turn me on.

Yes, this is really the opening line to this song, which is so incredibly bad it just may be one of my favorite 20 songs ever.  I think a lot of Prince from the "Purple Rain" era fits into this "so bad it’s awesome" category.  I wish I could say the same for my lovemaking, but no such luck.  That’s more like "so bad it’s ‘you know you’re actually hurting me, right?’"   

Yes, this is really the opening line to this song, which is so incredibly bad it just may be one of my favorite 20 songs ever.  I think a lot of Prince from the "Purple Rain" era fits into this "so bad it’s awesome" category.  I wish I could say the same for my lovemaking, but no such luck.  That’s more like "so bad it’s ‘you know you’re actually hurting me, right?’"   

"Jenny Don’t Be Hasty"  Paolo Nutini
You know, about a half dozen of you had recommended this guy to me, but I never checked him out, for one reason: his name is Italian, and me no like Italians.  Finally my buddy Matt encouraged me to give him a listen and wouldn’t you know – he’s pretty fucking awesome.  I’m still struggling with his Italianism, but he was born and raised in Scotland, which happens to be one of my favorite countries in the whole universe.  So it sort of evens out.  Anyway, a groovy, intense song highlighted by Nutini’s unique voice.  Highly recommended. 

"Spirit On The Water"  Bob Dylan
When you’re with me
I’m a thousand times happier than I could ever say
What does it matter
What price I pay

Bob’s pretty good at words. 

"Jail Break"  AC/DC
Dynamite, kick-ass old school AC/DC.  There are really few things better.  This song could inspire a playlist called, "Of Course I’m Drunk, Asshole!" 

("But he made it out – with a bullet in his back!")

"Angel"  The Faces
To get your weekend going, a great cover by one of the greatest rock bands ever.

[youtube]lxgFPa2-500[/youtube]

[Have a good weekend]