Wilt the Stilt ain't got nothing on Donnie Draper!!

Shameless teaser .... I know .... gotta know my schedule though!

First a PSA for new readers ..... Mad Men recaps are on Tuesdays so I can rewatch each episode and collect my thoughts. After last night's episode I'm going to be passing the hat I have so many thoughts to collect! But it is good to know Don Juan Draper is back with a vengeance!

On a more important note .... Spring has finally sprung!!! My two sons (neither of whom is named Ernie - that's my brother) were so excited by this morning's 53 degree temperature that they grabbed the top pair of shorts in their dresser drawers and ran off to the bus stop. My buddy in Miami fires up his space heater and dons a parka, scarf and beanie hat when the mercury hovers in the mid-50s ... in Ohio, it's a t-shirt & shorts kind of day!!! Southwest Ohio was also fortunate enough to see our closest star - no, no ... not my bald dome ... the sun! - shining brightly on consecutive days for the first time since sometime last August. Global warming may be causing the polar ice caps to melt but it's not doing anything to melt Winter away from Ohio. The next progression for our developmentally delayed Spring should be April thundershowers. I enjoy no natural phenomena more than nature's light and bass (not the fish ... the sound) show - especially if it's a night show. The impending thunderstorm season has caused one question in particular to ricochet around my inside my head to the point of intellectual exhaustion. Will the storm systems (Mesoscale Convection Systems for all the wannabe weathermen/storm chasers out there) which spawn thunderstorms and tornadoes get names like hurricane and winter storm systems? I don't know about you, but Supercell Ivan Drago sounds much more intimidating than the Tornado of 2013. Why do storms get names anyway? How many hurricane names can you remember besides Katrina? Which winter storm from 2012-2013 had the best name? What is the salary of the person at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (a federal agency with federal employees using tax money as it's only source of revenue) who coordinates all of the storm names? Why does tax money go to name storms? See what I mean about the mental exhaustion which comes about from simply thinking about Spring thunderstorms? Oh well .... questions to ponder another day .... in the meantime keep the shorts and umbrellas handy the next couple of days before Winter returns in time for the weekend.

Speaking of storms .... I'm thinking of joining the growing legion of amateur storm chasers. Tracking a garden variety thunderstorm around with my high-tech cellphone camera just appeals to my inner whorish Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame complex naturalist. It also provides a huge waste of gasoline valuable service for the local media scientific community who can't be everywhere at once and need pictures and video of even the most mundane of storms for their 11 o'clock news advanced data collection. My shots last summer of pea sized hail led to nothing a very important Facebook post!! If I had been in my convertible during last summer's derecho storm can you imagine the live action video I could have captured had I not been dodging trees falling into the road? I could have put the top down so people could really experience the wrath of the derecho - the wind, the debris whistling by my head, the sound of the hail pelting my bald head. Look .... I do it for fans ... and one of my storm videos was almost shown on Star64 CNN with Wolf Blitzer or whoever does the breaking national news there.

I'm not a big Saturday Night Live guy, but the Melissa McCarthy parody skit of Mike Rice (see here) is worth a couple minutes of your time.

Before I leave I would be remiss in failing to mention my two favorite red teams (the Buckeyes are SCARLET and gray ... duh!!!): The Reds and Arsenal. No truth to the rumor the National's ran Obama, John Boehner and Harry Reid out to the hill in Friday's 15-0 lambasting of Washington. The only numbers which were counting up quicker than the Redleg's tally was the national debt clock - ohhhhhhh low blow! At least the National's bounced back better than the national economy by winning in extra frames on Saturday before falling 6-3 in Sunday's game. The local nine get off to a 4-2 start with a three game set starting in ... ummmm 45 minutes ... at St. Louis. You better believe I'll be tuned in to the upcoming titanic struggle!!! On Saturday morning the Arsenal Gunners gutted out a 2-1 win over West Bromich Albion to briefly move into 4th place in the Barclay's Premier League. 4th place in huge in the BPL because it carries with it UEFA Champions League qualification and about $30million in TV right's fees plus increased ticket revenue. Arsenal needs to finish strong to overtake either Chelsea or Tottenscumham and nab a Champion's League spot. The Gunners take on Norwich City (nicknamed the Canaries after their bright yellow home kit) on Saturday before playing host to Manchester United.

Okay .. gotta go. Reds ... coaches meeting ... NCAA National Championship. Big night!!