Cubs, Queen and London

Let’s start this update with a quiz. What do the Cubs and a hurricane have in common?

Yes, they both blow, but that’s not the answer I had in mind. The answer is they are both hitting Miami at the same time.

Dennis isn’t likely to make a direct hit on Miami, but south Florida should still be impacted, and the possibility exists that, for the second year in a row, the entire Cubs-Marlins series could be rained out.

That might actually be good for the Cubs, which have imploded in an eight-game losing streak. They were outscored by the Braves 24-5 in a four game sweep. Yesterday, the bullpen blew the lead late, but that’s an improvement because that was the first lead the Cubs had in the entire streak.

Things have gotten so bad for Corey Patterson in particular that he was sent to Iowa yesterday, along with OF Jason Dubois, who has lost out on playing time to Todd Hollandsworth. Patterson’s fall from grace is dramatic for a former #1 pick and a player with the talent, but obviously not the mental ability, to be an all-star.

Here’s another quiz. Which act has had albums spend the most weeks on the British Billboard charts all-time? The Beatles? The Rolling Stones? Elvis?

All good guesses, but all wrong. Queen is #1 all-time, according to the Guinness folks. I’m a big Queen fan, but I would have never guessed that.

Queen is touring Europe again, sort of. Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have teamed up with former Free singer Paul Rogers to tour as “Queen with Paul Rogers.” Rogers isn’t Freddie, but who is? At least he isn’t trying to be.

I haven’t seen any reviews. There are some who would think Queen died when Freddie did and won’t like this no matter what. Certainly the prospect of anything new died with Freddie, but I have no problems with the remaining guys going out and keeping the songs out there and maybe even putting their own stamp on them. The tour is supposed to come to America next year. You’ll find me at the closest show to Chicago.

I spent most of yesterday with an eye on CNN following the London terrorism story. The one thing that stands out to me about that attack is that if it can happen there, nobody is really safe. London is probably the most experienced and prepared city for such a thing, and yet, three trains and a bus get blown up during rush hour. It’s one more example that if someone is determined and resourceful enough to cause mayhem, it’s pretty hard to stop them.

Queen and REM were among the acts that have postponed concerts schedule for London this week, though sporting events will go on.

Sorry to end on such a downer and sorry for the paucity of updates lately. The next week or so may be like that. I’m at my mother-in-law’s and it’s a difficult environment for me to work in. Next week, my kids will be attending Camp Invention and I’ll be volunteering, so I don’t know how much writing I’ll get done.