You can save Cheers & Jeers (follow up diary)

This is just a public service diary to follow up on kos's diary on the topic yesterday to help raise money to hire BiPM so that he can continue doing Cheers & Jeers.

We need to raise $50,000 dollars to get him going for a year. BiPM has agreed to do it, and kos has set up some paypal links to raise the money to do so - effectively so that we hire BiPM to write for us.

As of yesterday afternoon, $12,000 had been raised. Let's all continue the effort, it's well worth it.

One time contribution: click here

Note to FPers - don't hesitate to update the diary directly if you have any new numbers. I'll be out soon

You can also provide monthly contributions:

One time contribution: click here

$5 monthly contribution: click here

$10 monthly contribution: click here

$20 monthly contribution: click here

•  I'm glad to help

  I chipped in $100.

  by Jerome a Paris on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:17:36 PM PDT

  •  Meeting Bill

    was one of the (many) nice things I did in Chicago back in August

    

    vicki, Bill, myself and gina.

    by Jerome a Paris on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:19:21 PM PDT

    •  As I can hog the top of the thread

      let me brag a bit about France's stunning Rugby World Cup victory against New Zealand's All Blacks today. An extraordinary game. We'll play England in the semis, as they also pulled a stunning vicyory against another Southern team, Australia.

      by Jerome a Paris on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:21:40 PM PDT

      •  rugby?

        people actually pay attention to rugby?

        by Turkana on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:25:52 PM PDT

        •  you know, the sport for real men

          those that don't need all that fancy gear to protect them from being hurt when playing ball...

          by Jerome a Paris on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:27:44 PM PDT

          •  I hope they still wear a cup though.

            Even when not needing fancy gear to protect you from being hurt when playing ball, you still want to protect your balls.  If you lose an arm, it's only a steering problem.  ;-)

            by funluvn1 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:30:00 PM PDT

            •  I think they do. Then they give them

              as prizes. Like the Stanley Cup. oh wait. That's hockey.

              by emmasnacker on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 08:15:30 PM PDT

              •  He he....

                Prizes....for a sec there, I thought you were talking about the balls.... I love hockey, but I've never seen 'em hand those out!

                by Lisa Lockwood on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 03:40:09 AM PDT

          •  heh

            well, outside of the u.s., and some parts of canada, no one pays attention to american football, either. i hear it didn't go over so well, in europe...

            my favorite, though, is cricket. in england, when they have international matches, the papers are always full of stories, but the only countries that play the game are england and its former colonies- some of them still impoverished former colonies.

            by Turkana on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:32:54 PM PDT

            •  I need to take a week off

              and watch a cricket match someday.

              by citizenx on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:37:28 PM PDT

              •  This is the analogy

                that captures it for me:

                cricket test match : any other sporting event

                African game park : urban zoo

                To immerse yourself in a five day test match means to take along a book or two, to sit in the sun for much of the day, lolling about, flowing in and out of attention to the match, letting it develop its own dramatic tension, while you slowly slowly slowly get sucked into a world where there is nothing more than grass, sunscreen, and the possibility of an early third innings declaration.

                You become utterly alien to the world outside. Anything else is just instant tourism.

                by mapantsula on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:43:32 PM PDT

                •  right after the curling finals n/t

                  by Ozzie on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:11:32 PM PDT

                  •  Yes but that's so

                    thirteenth century ...

                    by mapantsula on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:27:35 PM PDT

                  •  I used to curl

                    when I lived up in Fairbanks. It is actually a lot of fun. Ofcourse alcohol was involved. Especially when the teams came over from Canada to compete with us!

                    I've never so much as seen a cricket match. Once in a while, if I wake up early and turn on the radio, I hear a BBC announcer running down the cricket scores and highlights. I haven't a clue what he is talking about.

                    by realalaskan on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 07:55:01 PM PDT

                    •  OH, PLEASE! Sweeping is involved!

                      How can you call it a sport if it involved housework???

                      Just aksin'

                      LuLu HATES housework.

                      by LuLu on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 06:24:45 AM PDT

                      •  curling

                        with a roomba ?

                        by indycam on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 09:22:02 AM PDT

                      •  Like I said,

                        often times alcohol was involved. ;-)

                        by realalaskan on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 01:52:22 PM PDT

                •  Third innings?

                  I thought a test match was two innings or five days, whichever comes first.

                  by admiralh on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 09:27:45 PM PDT

                  •  Yeah, that'd be a sporting second innings ...

                    ... declaration, giving the chasing team a target they can try to chase, so they don't go into their shell and play for a draw.

                    Play for a draw, mind you, not a tie ... a tied game is that rarest of special events.

                    by BruceMcF on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 10:10:31 PM PDT

                  •  2x2 innings

                    But if it last the full five days without the fourth innings being completed (either by the loss of the last batsman, or by someone scoring the winning runs) then it is a draw. This makes it exciting (yes it does).

                    by mapantsula on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 05:08:34 AM PDT

                •  Even more fun

                  when it's a pick up match against the next village, on a beautiful sunny day,  and the wager is a round of real ale at the local pub.

                  by northsylvania on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 01:43:59 AM PDT

            •  Cricket is like

              baseball, but more refined. And much, much longer. So long that they don't have a 7th inning stretch - they have a lunch break. With a real meal.

              by mmacdDE on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:38:07 PM PDT

              •  cricket

                what I love about cricket is that it is the least intuitive sport ever.  any other sport, you can watch and kind of get a sense of what they're trying to accomplish.  even croquet.  with cricket, I watch it, and it's completely indistinguishable from CalvinBall.

                by tunesmith on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:13:43 PM PDT

                •  I lived in Australia

                  for three years... and being a teen, wasn't willing to ASK someone to explain the rules.

                  After three years, the only thing I can tell you, really, is that getting caned with a cricket bat hurts like hell.

                  by ogre on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:30:36 PM PDT

            •  More people pay attention to cricket

              than every American sport combined.

              Of course, America is just another former colony, so that's not unsurprising.

              (And incidentally, the Netherlands had a team at the last world cup.)

              by mapantsula on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:27:11 PM PDT

              •  i doubt that

                basketball and baseball are pretty huge, internationally. then again- india.

                by Turkana on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:35:39 PM PDT

                •  Doubt as much as you like

                  India is more than three times the size of the US. Then you throw in another couple hundred million for everywhere else ... It works out you need a hell of a lot of Serbian basketball fanatics to even get close.

                  by mapantsula on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 07:22:57 PM PDT

                •  ... and Pakistan, and Bangledesh ...

                  ... the South Asians do love their cricket.

                  by BruceMcF on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 10:12:10 PM PDT

                •  Technically, those are both Canadian sports.

                  But you guys can play them. For now.

                  by HollywoodOz on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 10:54:31 PM PDT

            •  What does impoverish

              have to do with it? You can't be poor and still have fun, or play game, or like a game? You don't mean to imply that, unless you suited up in expensive, over-priced gears, you can't play or enjoy sport, do ya?

              by akogun on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:23:32 PM PDT

              •  uh

                no- what i mean is that some countries don't have the same means to develop and pay players, buy equipment, and travel the world to compete.

                by Turkana on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:33:54 PM PDT

                •  You'd be suprised.

                  in some of those impoverish countries, you'd find parents who, having to decide between buying dress shoes or buying football (I mean the REAL FOOTball) for their kids, invariably decide in favor of the football.

                  Sports (and music) transcends poverty, my friend.

                  by akogun on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:40:48 PM PDT

                  •  i'm aware it transcends poverty

                    many of "our" best baseball players are from impoverished central american countries. but given the different levels of resources, the wealthier countries do have a huge advantage over the less wealthy.

                    by Turkana on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:44:57 PM PDT

            •  When 'former English colonies' ...

              ... include India and Pakistan, that's a lot of people in cricket-following countries.

              by BruceMcF on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 10:07:43 PM PDT

          •  Har Har, still gloating here!

            Allez les Bleus!

            I did the $20 recurring thingy yesterday, hell, we need BIPM badly here.

            by Asinus Asinum Fricat on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:53:02 PM PDT

          •  or real women...

            some of us like rugby too!

            by mommyof3 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:55:16 PM PDT

            •  Rugby ROCKS!!!

              Great game, good people....great 'after' parties!

              by Barbara on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:03:01 PM PDT

            •  One of my students plays rugby.

              I fear for her life.  

              There's the part of me that cheers these young women for their enthusiastic brutality (ha! subversive!), and then there's the part of me that worries they'll have permanent neurological damage.

              by mamamedusa on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:17:01 PM PDT

              •  elegant violence...

                that's what my friends call it...

                by mommyof3 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:30:46 PM PDT

              •  Concussions

                Concussions are a real problem in most sports and they are often a greater problem for girls and women than for men.

                Play your hearts out, but use your brains, not just your heads.

                by freelunch on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 07:09:34 PM PDT

                •  In rugby, if you're using your head...

                  ..your tackling technique needs work.

                  by HollywoodOz on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 10:56:49 PM PDT

            •  Hell, yeah!

              My big sister lost a couple of teeth playing rugby.

              She lost them again when her dog ate the temporary crown.

              But that's another story :)

              by skeptigal on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:37:47 PM PDT

          •  Congrats Jerome!

            Yesterday on CNN, Anderson Cooper interviewed Michael Ware, their Iraq War correspondent, whom they sent to France to cover the Rugby championships. Michael revealed that the reason his unique nose goes in a few different directions is because it got broken about a dozen times playing Rugby :)

            by phoenixdreamz on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:01:20 PM PDT

            •  I had several friends

              who played Rugby at the University of Arkansas back in the late '70s early '80s.  Allen got a concussion but recovered.  Sara got a lot of bruises but was OK.  The parties are still legend.  They played "quarters", the drinking game.  The twist was that everyone was nude and the quarter had to be carried in one's cheeks (not the facial kind) and deposited in the beer of the victim who had to chug the beer.

              The best was Nude Human Bowling.  They would take three or four long tables (the kind that the legs fold) and line them up end to end, and then duct tape them together.  Then they would tape Visqueen over them and wet it down with beer to make is slick.  Several nude people would stack up on the end of the battery of tables, and the "ball" was yet another nude human who would take a flying leap onto the front end of the series and attempt knock the folks stacked up on the other end off of the table.  The good old days.  Regards, Doc.

              by Translator on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:17:28 PM PDT

              •  Michael said the Rugby parties are legendary

                and wild but wouldn't go into detail on air. Now I know why, lol. Thanks!

                by phoenixdreamz on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:29:23 PM PDT

                •  You are very welcome!

                  All of the players that I know well have become successful grownups with children of their own.  Sara became a fundie Catholic, no doubt due the the brain trauma.  Allen is a successful engineer somewhere in the great plains.  Evolution is interesting.  Regards, Doc.

                  by Translator on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:41:29 PM PDT

          •  Yeah, like Everett n/t

            by Heart of the Rockies on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:30:31 PM PDT

          •  Congratulations, Frech Ruggers

            This thread reminded me of an excellent French comedy starring the incomparable Depardieu. Titled "The Closet", and not to spoil anything but club level Rugby is prominent in the story line.

            Great flick and great, great upset.

            by Dave925 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 08:03:03 PM PDT

          •  The All Blacks (NZ Rugby team) Haka

            Love the concern on the faces of the opposing team ;-) while watching the All Blacks demonstrate their willingness (and then some!) to fight an honored foe.

            by Lisa Lockwood on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 03:53:48 AM PDT

            •  Gosh. Who's their choreographer? nt

              by DSPS owl on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 08:45:31 AM PDT

          •  "real men"

            "playing ball." ?
            Aren't balls for kids ?
            Real men surf !

            by indycam on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 09:18:29 AM PDT

            •  Real men surf !

              http://starbulletin.com/...

              "A Hawaii surfer has won the prize for riding the world's largest wave, beating French surfers in the competition."

              "I was hit so many times, I thought to myself, 'I'm going to die here,'" Cheyne Horan of Australia told an Australian reporter after being tumbled ashore by the 60-foot Jaws wave. "My body went numb and limp. I was seeing stars and felt as though I was on the other side, like I had died."

              by indycam on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 09:47:58 AM PDT

        •  Rugby good stuff

          In the north east we are a bit more euro-centered and as such there are many Rugby fans here.

          I just bought 4 rugby jerseys from worldrugbyshop last month.

          I bought an "All Blacks"  a "London-Irish, and two of the London national teams.  A game jersey and a supporters jersey.  Top of the line beautiful jerseys.

          by Polticalrecluse on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:47:25 PM PDT

        •  Oh yes n/t

          by stevej on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 07:04:14 PM PDT

      •  responding to one's own tip jar

        is a very neat trick that you figured out long ago.

        by andgarden on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:25:58 PM PDT

      •  Les Bleues

        Congrats!

        How is Euro 2008 qualifying going for your football team?

        And, more importantly, when are y'all going to get Marinette Pichon to come back out of retirement and help your women's team live up to that #7 FIFA world ranking they somehow still have?

        by Ray Radlein on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:27:27 PM PDT

      •  Poupou ki he kau Ikale Tahi

        of Tonga which nearly beat South Africa in the World Cup, losing 30-25, beat Samoa for the first time in seven years, had their game against England televised live back to Tonga and returned to Tonga to a hero's welcome.  Not bad for a country of about 100,000 people.
        And I kicked in $ 250 to Bill yesterday afternoon.  Feel free to make me look like a cheapskate y'all.

        by Tonga 23 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:29:47 PM PDT

        •  The New Zealand/Tonga rugby haka on YouTube...

          ...is one of the most amazing bits of video on the internet.

          by mamamedusa on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:19:16 PM PDT

        •  I thought about this too

          On Matangi Tonga there are pix and stories about the team's success.

          by binkaroni on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:19:54 PM PDT

        •  Ag

          You guys played the Springbok B team

          But yes, it's been great going for the islands in this tournament, along with Argentina. It would be nice to see the three nations expand to an all-southern hemisphere league.

          by mapantsula on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:30:14 PM PDT

          •  I saw the Springboks playing the All Blacks

            on TV from an Auckland hotel room around 1980.
            The game was played in Auckland and the field was lined with razor wire, police and police attack dogs to keep the crowd under control.  Protesters were everywhere in evidence, denouncing the  team representing the then apartheid ruled South Africa.  A light plane circled overhead during the game bombing the field with sacks of flour.  No sporting event I have seen in the US has come anywhere close to that one in atmosphere. and the All Blacks, my second favorite ruby team, won the game.

            by Tonga 23 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:54:27 PM PDT

            •  Cool

              I remember going to see the Springboks play France in Pretoria in the very early 1980s. I think it was one of the last internationals before total isolation.

              As I grew older, it became disgusting that it took so many countries so long to stop playing with South Africa. That was a curse we only lifted in 1995.

              by mapantsula on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:02:03 PM PDT

      •  I heard the All Blacks had to wear Gray!

        Perhaps this messed with their mojo?

        Just teasing!  Congratulation Francais!  

        by funluvn1 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:32:57 PM PDT

      •  Goddammit, I had it TiVo'd

        You need to warn people in the subject heading with "Rugby spoiler" or something.

        Anyway, France must have had Chabal in the starting lineup. That may be the only reason they lost to Argentina. But please don't answer me, I still want to watch.

        by bobinson on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:09:46 PM PDT

        •  It's still worth watching

          It was a really good game by both teams. Very tense and oh so close.

          by Jerome a Paris on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:11:45 PM PDT

      •  Zut I missed the game

        but did see them destroy Ireland..Allez les Bleus!

        by philinmaine on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:22:58 PM PDT

      •  C'est magnifique!

        C'est bloody amazing too.

        But I only say that as a South African, still ROTFLMAO.

        by mapantsula on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:23:51 PM PDT

      •  An interesting,,,

        ...backline movement that lead to Yannick Jauzion being awarded a try for France.

        Did fullback Damien Traille pass the ball forward to Frederic Michalak?

        Oui ou Non ? ...or C'est la vie!

        by swarf on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 08:26:43 PM PDT

      •  Are they Bleus too?

        If so, allez les Bleus . Or allez any other color, even Red.
        From a once-upon-a-time (and for a long time) American in Paris, now back in a state where the team is Red but the mood is Blue.  

        by BlueStateRedhead on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 10:19:09 PM PDT

      •  What a coincidence: I just found out

        the other day (by googling) that my son's support teacher at his new school, who had told me somewhat offhandedly that he also coaches rugby, is quite well known as a coach/trainer of the Under-19 set (they even refer to him as an "authentic guru of Roman Under 19 rugby"!). And what is more, he has two kids who both play: the younger is 18-19 years old, but the older one (now about 22) is on the Italian national team, and his debut game was against the All Blacks a few years ago.

        by Donna in Rome on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 04:42:25 AM PDT

    •  Wow ! That photo of the "aircraft hanger"

      sure gave me a rush ! Memories.....

      by murphy on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:31:56 PM PDT

  •  Jerome, is that $100.00 US or 100 euros.

    These days, that really matters!  ;-)

    Thanks for your support.  BiPM deserves it.

    by funluvn1 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:19:55 PM PDT

    •  You mean €100, right? ;-)

      by andgarden on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:25:18 PM PDT

      •  or 100€. . .

        by andgarden on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:26:54 PM PDT

      •  No, I meant 100 euros.

        But I do like the little British Pound sign with attitude.  ;-)

        by funluvn1 on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:27:23 PM PDT

      •  Yeah, we have that € key on our computers

        don't we ? Guess they knew something some of us didn't want to admit....

        by murphy on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:33:29 PM PDT

        •  Requires a special key combo for me

          that I had to look up. (on Mac, Option-Shift-2)

          by andgarden on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:35:51 PM PDT

          •  Or you can just type

            & euro ; (no spaces of course)

            €

            Easier than key combos.

            I love HTML...

            by mmacdDE on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:39:57 PM PDT

            •  alt+0128 or alt+eu for Windows (n/t)

              by gringoringo on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 07:18:39 AM PDT

    •  I started in dollars

      If more's needed at some point, I will indeed be able to switch easily to help again...

      by Jerome a Paris on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:38:43 PM PDT

  •  Vive la Finance!

    But how can you possibly afford it, when everyone knows that Socialist Old Europe has permanent economic doldrums?

    by Ray Radlein on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:22:06 PM PDT

    •  Remember

      I'm a banker who invests in alternative energies. I think Bill qualifies...

      by Jerome a Paris on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:26:40 PM PDT

      •  WOOT!

        ha!! great way to look at it!!!

        by PoliSigh on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:28:19 PM PDT

      •  You owe Bill

        for the Bunless Burger thing!

        Bill is the alternative to so very much!!

        Thanks, Jermome.  Please pardon all my exclamation marks.

        by vicki on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:51:32 PM PDT

      •  Oh and i gave the recurring thing yesterday

        altho my disposal long ago was disposed

        by philinmaine on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:26:30 PM PDT

      •  Indeed, he does!

        Though I had never thought of it that way before!  Thank you.  I needed the laugh!

        by loggersbrat on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:53:42 PM PDT

  •  I was sure there would be much more $$s

    by now. Are totals figured for a year, adding up the monthly contributions? I am concerned that we are not going to make this a go, people. Sheesh.

    by mcmom on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 03:57:53 PM PDT

    •  I only have

      kos's latest update as of yesterday at 5pm PDT. Surely it has increased a bit since then. Hopefully this diary will help.

      by Jerome a Paris on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 04:12:54 PM PDT

      •  Yes, thank you for this, Jerome a Paris.

        (Notice that I used your correct appellation. I remember you asking for us to do that).

        by mcmom on Sat Oct 06, 2007 at 05:54:30 PM PDT