"Rocky Mountain High" for Colorado's State Song?

So apparently a member of the Colorado General Assembly thinks John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" should be the state song of Colorado.

Of course, there's this disclaimer:

The Colorado General Assembly wants to be quite clear on this point: When the singer-songwriter John Denver praised the joys of Colorado and sang about “friends around the campfire, and everybody’s high,” in 1972, he was not referring to illicit drugs.

“We could be talking about guys who’ve been fishing all day, or kids pigging out on s’mores, with the chocolate,” Senator Hagedorn said, referring to other endorphin-producing activities.

Riiiiighhhttt. John Denver was just writing about chocolate! And anyway, I'm not sure "pigging out on s'mores" is any more healthy or appropriate for a state song.

This whole thing reminds me of Robert Wuhl's stand-up comedy routine about people who wanted to make Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" the state song of New Jersey. I remind you that "Born to Run" contains these lyrics:

Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young

Well, ok, that might be pretty appropriate for New Jersey, but still....

My Bracket

Neil Diamond is NOT in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

So the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its newest members last night, and not surprisingly, Van Halen managed to make a fiasco of there own induction, with only Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony showing up. But that's not what I want to talk about...

Here's a list of 30 bands and artists that Roundheaded Boy things should be in. His number one shocked me.

I had no idea Neil Diamond was NOT already in. How can this be? I don't care how big a rock snob you are, give Neil his props. The man is one of the top 10 or 20 greatest songwriters of the rock era, and a legendary performer. Sure, he has a tendency to gravitate toward cheesiness. Rock and Roll would not be the same without him.

Some others on the list that should be in...

Carole King. She's in as a songwriter and deserves induction as a performer as well.

The Monkees. Cheesy, and arguably not a real band, but their catalog of music speaks for itself. It's unbelievable that they're not in.

The Hollies. A great classic band that certainly deserves induction.

Dire Straits. A personal favorite of mine... It's not as surprising that they're not in, and they may be some day. Certainly deserving.

The Cars. One of the better bands of their type from the 80s.

Warren Zevon. I thought he'd surely be in now, given the tragic circumstances of his death.

Randy Newman. Another top 20-or-so songwriter of the rock era.

I'm glad to see newer bands like U2 and R.E.M. getting in these days, but some of the classics still deserve their dues.

Some March Madness thoughts

On Thursday, I plan on posting my bracket for all the world to mock... I mean, see.

I don't want to give too much away, but I don't think this is going to be my year. Due to circumstances, I've picked my bracket largely with my heart... I don't want to tell you who I have going all the way... but it's a certain cheese-related school that I once attended, that I don't think has what it takes, but is seeded high enough that I feel compelled to pick them. I think there's a strong chance this school could screw my bracket up by losing very early in the tournament.

There are two schools that I feel an even stronger connection to... Illinois and Southern Illinois... and they could face each other in the second round. I'm not sure Southern Illinois should be ranked as high as they are (a 4 seed), but I do think they got lucky and should breeze by Holy Cross in the first round and can beat either Virginia Tech or Illinois in the second, two teams that are overrated.

I'm generally disappointed there aren't more mid-major teams in the tourney this year, although it's not as if there are alot of great mid-major teams that were left out. Last year, I felt compelled to defend the Missouri Valley on this blog when they got 4 teams in... This year they only got two and I think that's fair. The Valley just wasn't as good this year, even if Southern Illinois is arguably better than any Valley team from last year.

My only real beef is Drexel not making it... And the team that should have been left out is... wait for it....

The Illinois Fighting Illini. That's right. I'm admitting that my own alma mater shouldn't have made it. They really aren't a good team.

Having said that, I think they can take the Hokies in the first round.

A few more random points....

Team most deserving of a higher seed - Nevada. They're much better than a 7.

Team least deserving of it's seed - Pittsburgh. They're no 3 seed.

Most likely upset - Winthrop over Notre Dame.

One seed with easiest route to final four - Ohio State.

One seed with the hardest route - North Carolina.

Upset I'd most like to see... Any 16 over any 1, of course. That's always a given unless my teams are involved, but ESPECIALLY when North Carolina and Kansas are one seeds.

Other upsets I'd like to see...

Virginia Commonwealth over Duke... I mean, come on. It's Duke.
Illinois over Virginia Tech... Duh.
Davidson over Maryland... I really don't like Gary Williams.
Long Beach State over Tennessee.... I don't like Bruce Pearl either.
Villanova over Kentucky... This is an 8 vs 9 game, so it doesn't really count, but I really don't like Kentucky.
Creighton over Nevada... Always gotta root for Valley teams.
Winthrop over Notre Dame... I never root for Notre Dame.

Stay tuned on Thursday to see my bracket.

The Congressional "Non-theist' is....

California's Pete Stark.

Debby and Dara both have good points in the comments of my last post.

Stark is a liberal from the Bay area who has held his seat for a long time and will have no trouble defending his seat. It's not as if he won in the Bible Belt. And it's true we're not going to have a Congress full of Santarians, Wiccans and Scientologists any time soon.

The goal here isn't to represent every religion in Congress... The goal, at least from my perspective, is a Congress in which officials are elected on policy preferences more than religion. In many districts, it's still impossible for someone other than a Christian to get elected, and that's a shame.