Crosseyed and Painless

As the month of March quickly glides by, there is much to talk about:

• It's nice to see our government tackling real issues. Steroids in baseball? Call a congressional hearing. Need to intervene in a family dispute over someone in a vegetative state? Call another hearing. The next big issue needs to be stair safety. Last week, former Red Sox reliever Dick Radatz died after tumbling down the stairs in his home, then the same thing happened a few days ago to Rod Price, guitarist of '70s rock act Foghat. Not a fun way to go. Call your senator now!
• Holy crap! Morty Seinfeld died, too. No stairs were involved. That we know of.
• Dean Karnazes has serious issues. The dude ran 262 miles non-stop (in 75 hours) just to see if he could do 10 consecutive marathons. Now he's aiming for 300. Geez, these days I'm just happy to run 3 miles pain-free.
• Don't read this if you just ate supper. Hey, that stuff is bad for you, anyway.
• Nice to see the Toronto Maple Leafs have revived an old tradition by renaming their top farm club the Toronto Marlies. The Marlies (short for Marlboros) were bought by Leafs founder Conn Smythe in 1927 and played through to the 80s until they were sold. Ninety-eight Marlies went on to become Leafs. The AHL team was in St. John's, Newfoundland, for the last 14 seasons.
• No shocker, but the NHL cancelled the 2005-06 draft in June because no collective bargaining agreement is in place. Sidney Crosby, the most highly-touted prospect in years, will likely have to wait another year before he finds out his pro team.
• Ah, the rock. I harken back to the late 80s/early '90s for a local band that I enjoyed back in tha day, O-Positive. They played a catchy brand of REMish jangle pop and actually signed to Epic Records for the 1990 release ToyboatToyboatToyboat. Saw them play live at the old Beverly rock club Grover's a few times after I moved to town; they put on a good show. O-Positive got decent radio airplay in Boston on WBCN and WFNX, well before they were ever signed to a major. One song I particularly dug was Back of My Mind, off Toyboat. Things have changed: Grover's closed down in the early '90s and is now a restaurant; O-Positive singer Dave Herlihy is now an entertainment lawyer. As for me, I'm just some dude with a blog.
• Getting psyched to see Queens of the Stone Age Monday at the Roxy. The new album, Lullabies to Paralyze, kicks the proverbial arse. Always a good thing.