Starr and McCartney team up again, Bud Selig finally makes one needed change and blowing up bridges in Colombia.....Hugo Chavez has been busy

- Quite an eclectic group of guests former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has assembled for "Y Not," his latest solo album due out Jan. 12, 2010 on Hip-O Records/UMe. When people call something ecletic, they usually mean that it’s weird and often that it sucks and that would definitely be the case here. Among the musical luminaries Starr has assembled are pop hacks like Joss Stone and Richard Marx. He has also snagged some good artists to join him for the project, including Ben Harper, Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney. Starr and McCartney will team up for a duet on the album, on which Starr is handling the production duties himself for the first time in his career. "I was the least involved in the production of the Beatle records," Starr said in a statement. "And then with my solo records, I worked with some other great producers like Richard Perry, Arif Mardin, and Don Was. So it just seemed like that's the way that it goes. Then suddenly, it's another point in your life, and you say, 'I'm going do this now.' So I'll be producing anything I make from now on." I think that’s a good move, as someone like Starr should be much more capable at finding his own sound than some hired-gun producer. He places McCartney in a variety of roles on “Y Not,” including playing bass on the song "Peace Dream," as well as lead vocal duties on "Walk With You," a song composed by Starr and Van Dyke Parks. Some of the songs on the album are autobiographical, while others have a lighter vibe. Having heard Starr’s previous solo work, I have to say that it’s been much too mainstream and poppy for my tastes and hopefully by sitting in the producer’s chair from here on out, he will be able to eliminate that aspect and focus on making music that is good rather than simply making music that he thinks people will buy………

- Five words for Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig: Welcome to the party, pal. What the rest of us, both those inside the sport and outside, have been saying for a long time now is that there are far too many off days during the playoffs. For example, heading into Game 6 of this year’s American League Championship Series, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Orange County near Costa Mesa had each played a whopping eight games in the previous 20 days. Basically, they were playing an average of less than three games per week at that point. Angels manager Mike Scioscia ripped the current format during that debacle and with the chorus of critics against the system growing louder and larger by the day, Selig has finally capitulated and agreed to address the problem. "We're going to change it," Selig said. "I don't disagree with Mike Scioscia. I think he was right, so we're going to try and tighten that up." He hopes to significantly cut down on off days during the postseason next year, a decision that will be warmly received by players, managers and fans. Of course, this announcement would be even greater were it accompanied by a sharp and swift about-face by Selig on the issue of expanding instant replay in baseball, but the commissioner was only willing to say that he would continue to discuss any potential expansion. “I'm going to talk to a lot of people. I haven't changed my view at all, but I'm always willing to talk to a lot of people and I've talked to a lot of managers and I've talked to a lot of general managers," Selig said. "I haven't heard from anybody about instant replay. The only comments I get are when I call somebody on a bunch of subjects and we talk about it." Whatever you say, commissioner Idiot. Heck, you don’t even have the actual plans for the new postseason format worked out, do you Bud? "When you plan the playoff schedule, you don't know how many games the first round would go. So it's difficult," he explained. "There were clubs that sat around. Some were necessary, but some were not." Exactly as I thought, moron. In the end, I suppose baseball fans will have to be content with the sport finally showing concern for them over of its television partners, for whom baseball added four extra days off during the postseason starting in 2007 in order to shift the World Series opener to Wednesday from Saturday, usually the lowest-rated night of the week. So a halfway decent announcement by the commissioner, but next time let’s try for something that’s all the way decent, k…………

- For those in the Dallas area who are excited about the design for the George W. Bush Presidential Center and library, I have one key piece of advice: expect lots of coloring books, picture books and Mad Libs. Every former president gets a library in his honor in a city of his choosing, so W. has chosen the Dallas area and specifically the area around the campus of Southern Methodist University. After all a prolonged debate over land and traffic control around the SMU area, Former First Lady Laura Bush unveiled the design for the George W. Bush Presidential Center this week. The complex will house a library, museum and the archive for George W. Bush's presidential papers – i.e. doodles of rainbows, stick figures and half-finished games of tic-tac-toe. It will be a brick and limestone building with include a replica of the oval office along with a rose garden similar to the White House – y’know, so W. can pretend to be running the country just like he pretended to run it while evil Vice Lord Cheney pulled the strings from 2001-2008? Mrs. Bush chaired the design committee and says her ass hat of a husband wanted something modern which fit the SMU campus. "This was really something I enjoyed every minute of I had things I wanted ways I wanted it to be," says Former First Lady Laura Bush. The center will be located in a field of wildflowers and prairie designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh (a designed, manufactured field of wildflowers and prairie, how quaint and not at all phony). After walking through that bogus field of wildflowers and prairie, visitors will first enter Freedom Hall, which architect Bob Stern says is one of the most inspiring areas. "Freedom is a form of light I think that's a important theme of building and the Bush presidency I think people should see it and glows and send an optimist view of the world." Pardon me while I attempt to stifle my laughter, Bob-O. Freedom was an important facet of the W. presidency? Which W. administration did you sit through? Unfortunately for those who would visit this monument to ineptitude, Laura Bush says she and her husband will have their offices at the library and plan to be around often. The library is expected to be open in 2013, which should be more than enough time to collect enough Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog and coloring books………

- Oh, how I loves me an international conspiracy theory. Nothing is better than one nation-state accusing another nation-state of some sort of illegal, unethical and destructive act done covertly under the cover of darkness. It’s no surprise to hear such allegations being made by either side in the ongoing battle between Colombia and Venezuela. The South American neighbors have been at one another’s throats in earnest ever since the Colombian government decided to allow the United States to use its military bases as a launching point for operations against drug cartels. Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez believes that the U.S. is up to something much more sinister (as he is prone to do) and has used that excuse to wage a non-stop crusade against Colombia. The Colombian government claims that crusade continued overnight when Venezuelan soldiers blew up two pedestrian bridges across the Colombia-Venezuelan border. Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said explosives were used to blow up the bridges in what he termed a violation of international law. "Uniformed men, apparently from the Venezuelan army, arrived in trucks on the Venezuelan side at two pedestrian bridges that link communities on both sides ... and then proceeded to dynamite them," Silva said. Hmm….does that sound like something Hugo Chavez and his government would do? Ah heck, who am I kidding? Of course it’s something they would do! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chavez were the first man off the truck explosives in hand and destruction in his eyes. Because I very much want this story to be true, I’m going to go ahead and assume that it is. Now, it’s your move, Colombia, make your retaliation a doozy so we can really kick this thing up a notch………

- Prepare to revolt and organize your requisite “I hate new Facebook ___________” groups, Facebook users. That’s the inevitable response any time Facebook institutes a change to its site, whether that change is to layout, function or security. A large chunk of users are pissed no matter what the change is and they (hypocritically) use the very site and technology they are pissed at to organize against…… the very site and technology they are pissed at to organize against. The latest change involves a new photo ulpoader on Facebook, designed to make uploading photos faster and simpler. As of today, the site has introduced a new Photo Uploader Prototype, described as “a preview of an upcoming replacement for the existing Facebook photo uploader. This brand new experience makes use of the new Facebook Plug-In, a light-weight browser plug-in.” Users can activate the new app and begin using it immediately. The process of setting it up is also fairly simple: the first time you launch the uploader, you’ll be asked to install a new Facebook Plugin. The plugin works with all major operating systems - Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu Linux 8.04 and up - and should install right in your browser. If not, just download it separately and run the file. Best of all, you don’t even need to restart your browser to use the plugin. Once it’s installed, you’ll see the standard “Create an Album” screen, but when you select “Select Photos,” a different window will pop up than you are used to. The new app allows users to select folders or a folder within a folder, add photos from all over your computer and upload them together. One of the best features is that instead of appearing in a pop-up window that ties you to the upload page, the upload process will now take place in the background, allowing the user to back to using Facebook instead of waiting for the files to upload. Bear in mind that because this app is stil a prototype, threw will undoubtedly be some bugs and issues to work out. If that occurs, you can deactivate the prototype and go back to the old method of uploading. Facebook hopes to have a final version of the app as a permanent replacement for all users soon, so maybe that’s when the protest groups and angry posturing will get going in earnest………