Short and sweet this week, folks.  Just the picks and how I did last week.  Enjoy!

Patriots at Bills: Pats are flying high and will trounce da Bills 28-17.

Lions at Vikings: Lions are for real this year.  They win in a landslide 28-10.

Giants at Eagles: Giants stink.  Eagles 21-14.

Jaguars at Panthers: Cam Newton will win his 1st game 24-17.

49ers at Bengals: Ugly game…Niners 17-10.

Texans at Saints: Saints barely squeak one out 24-21.

Dolphins at Browns: Dolphins pull one out 17-14.

Broncos at Titans: Titans keep rolling 21-10.

Chiefs at Chargers: Chargers smoke the hapless Chiefs 35-10.

Ravens at Rams: Ravens take out their frustrations on the Rams 28-17.

Jets at Raiders: Jets beat up on the Raiders 21-10.

Packers at Bears: Packers in a runaway game 35-14.

Falcons at Buccaneers: Falcons are overrated but the Bucs aren’t that good either.  Bucs 21-17.

Cardinals at Seahawks: Yuck.  (Flipping a coin) Cardinals 17-14.

Steelers at Colts: The Colts’ misery continues.  Steelers 31-14.

Redskins at Cowboys: Cowboys in a squeaker 24-17.

Last Week 10-6.

Season 18-14.  (I gave myself a .500 record for the first week.  So sue me.)

Yesterday, a shocking event shook Portland.  The FBI raided a popular “Mexican” restaurant, Fajita Grill, and arrested the owner, Guillermo Fuentes, and his brother, Hector Fuentes, owner of two Mexican restaurants in Biddeford and Waterville.  They are under suspicion of harboring and employing “illegal” aliens in Maine since 2006 when Fajita Grill opened.

The Feds were tipped off by the Westbrook police who informed them of a routine traffic stop in 2008 that involved a number of Hispanic employees of Fajita Grill where the employees admitted to being Mexican citizens without any US papers.  The employees also claimed that they were paid in cash and lived in the basement.  Upon inspection of the building by Westbrook’s code enforcement officer, he said that there was evidence of tenants in the basement.

My first reaction is why is anyone is surprised by “illegals” working in a restaurant?  First of all, the prices at Fatija Grill are very low for large portions as are their margaritas.  It’s a popular place with lots of employees to serve the lunch and happy hour crowds.  Second, with restaurants being the mecca of the cash business model, you can easily pay undocumented workers under the table.  Using the cash register as a payroll check is old hat.   You think these things happen because people are being paid lots of money?

What blows me away is that it took 3!!!! years for the Feds to come knocking after pretty persuasive evidence was presented to them.  I’ll just assume that the reason was Maine is too far from the Mexican border to truly have “illegals” here.  I can just picture some DC bureaucrat sitting in his office looking at the memo and then glancing at a map.  “Hey, isn’t Maine that podunk little state that prides itself on lobster and pine trees? No way they have “illegal” immigrants there.  Must be a case of the stupids.”

As you’ve probably noticed, I put “illegal” in quotation marks in this entire article.  I have a huge problem with the word and it’s connotations.  Why is someone illegal? Because the goldern guberment says so, that’s why.  Of course, they neglected to enforce those rules for years because of the benefits of an inexpensive labor pool for our economy.  I’ve always found it funny that border control didn’t become a hot button issue until our economy showed signs of slowing and job growth began to dwindle.  Hmm…and we are meant believe that the big boys in Washington didn’t have some sense of the impending economic slowdown/crash?

It infuriates me when the tired old trope of “they’re taking our jobs” is mentioned by some illiterate nincompoop in a man on the street interview.  Really?? You’d be okay getting paid $320 cash a week while working 60 hours as one of the workers claimed in his interview? I doubt it.  Pretty sure you aren’t willing to go pick vegetables for pennies an hour either, asshole.  But we’ve got to have our cheap dinner out and our year-round vegetables.  You can’t have it both ways…either people are paid fairly and equally and others pay more for the services they provide or they get fucked and others benefit with lower costs goods and services.

I don’t want this to sound like I’m defending the Fuentes.  I think they’re scumbags for promising the American dream to workers and then screwing them with low wage jobs.  They are as much of the problem as the government is.  When people get greedy, other people get fucked.  (Look at the big banks and the Republicans as other examples.)

People pretend that it’s a complex problem with lots of ins and outs.  I’m here to tell you, it isn’t.  Expand the legal programs for immigrants to come here and work so they can fill the needs of the companies that use them and make it easier for “illegals” to become an American citizen.  We are all “illegal” immigrants, let’s not forget.  Let’s fix this problem so our country can continue to grow and prosper.  Let us remember the words written on Lady Liberty.

“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name,
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Through the powers of the inter-tubes, I came across this article over at the Politics of the Plate blog. It was a fairly brief post, based around the debunking of a common myth: Buying food at the farmers’ market is much more expensive than buying food at the supermarket.

This myth catapults the discussion surrounding farm fresh, organic produce into the realm of elitists, looking down from their bok choy podium at the poor souls eating their imported, stale iceberg lettuce. To be fair, the bearded, Birkenstock foodies haven’t done a whole lot to dispel the misunderstanding. Luckily, some smart people have begun doing some pretty simple math and documenting it. One such study was conducted by Jake Robert Claro, a graduate student at Bard College’s Center for Environmental Policy. From the article:

[The study] found that prices at farmers’ markets were lower for many conventionally produced grocery items than they were at supermarkets. For organic items, farmers’ markets beat grocery stores every time hands down.

It’s important to note that some non-organic produce is indeed cheaper at the supermarket. Furthermore, store bought items such as eggs and potatoes are much less expensive.

So, you may be thinking to yourself, “Hoke, you’re not really convincing me here. The grocery store is open every day, while the farmers’ market is only found once a week and only for a few hours. Convenience, Hoke, you bearded, kale eating tree hugger.”

Well, ignoring the kale thing, I could probably write a post every week, for the next year, digging into the issues with our current food system. *deep breath* Instead, I’ll share you with a thought:

When we buy food at the supermarket, only a small percentage of that money is going to the original producer. That is to say, if you’re buying locally grown produce from the supermarket, you’re encouraging a system that hurts the farmer that grew it. I know what you’re thinking, at least the farmer has a place to sell his crop, right? While this is true, let’s do the math.

Said farmer sells her organic carrots to the corporate supermarket, generally at a forced, fixed markup, let’s say 5%. From there, the store marks it up an additional 15%, for a grand total of a 20% markup. This results in the price you pay.

Now, what if a different farmer goes to the weekly farmer’s market and sells the exact same organic carrot directly to the consumer (that’s you) for a 15% markup? You’ll note that, in the end, you end up with a 5% savings and the farmer makes three (3!!) times the profit.

Seems like such an obvious choice, huh?

And for anyone curious where we’d buy dog food, charcoal and band-aids without supermarkets, just go ask the empty storefronts that were once your main street feed store, hardware store and pharmacy.

It’s amazing that, for what is effectively a subtle act of sloth, I get a notable amount of public attention. At the most random times, I hear, “Dude! Sweet beard, brah!” Or, better yet, “Sir, that is an impressive beard!”  I’d be lying if I said I minded the compliments, however, the attention can be odd at times. Let’s take the comparisons for example:

ZZ Top – I’m a fan of a few songs of these fine, bearded gents, but I must say their manes are much more impressive than mine. As are their guitar licks.

Whisker Wars – According to the IFC website:

The series follows a devoted group of whisker warriors as they travel the country competing for top bearding honors in preparation for the World Championship Competition in Trondhjem, Norway. Historically, Germany has long dominated the field but now there is an upstart squad on the horizon – Beard Team USA.

Often it’s suggested that I should be on the show, but again my whiskers pale in comparison to some of these furry folks. In fact, one waiter, after asking if I had heard about the show, definitively told me that I wouldn’t stand a chance against these guys. Thanks, pal.

Samuel Beam – As the band Iron & Wine, Mr. Beam has many fans, but is still relatively obscure, as opposed to ZZ Top. I had never heard of the band until someone mentioned that I looked like him. To this date, it takes a few seconds to remember his name when someone insists I look like him.

And last, but not least, I would have to say that my favorite comparison is good ol’ Kris Kringle. Whenever December rolls around, I start receiving a noticeable increase in sideways looks from small children. I distinctly remember once, in a mall, walking passed a mother and small boy. When they were only a few feet away, he quickly asked her, “Santa?”

Comparisons aren’t the only public incident related to my beard. I’ve been asked if I was Jewish or Muslim, as though J.C. didn’t have a beard. And then there is the occasional gaggle of high school girl proclaiming their love for my facial hair in a high pitched chorus. Thanks, but let’s not get me in trouble with the local authorities, o.k.?

All that said, none of the aforementioned points are quite as awkward as when women (and men) ask if they can touch the beard. I think it might parallel with the stories I’ve heard from pregnant woman and the occasional request to touch their stomachs. It’s as though if something extends from your corporal bubble enough, people feel it appropriate to request a feel. For the most part, I acquiesce. And really, I assume it a testament to my hygiene that people are so compelled to touch this mass of hair on my face. Something tells me they’d be less excited to touch the other hair on my body… just a guess.

And finally, the most frequently uttered phrase I’ve heard directed toward the lower half of my face must be:

“Man, I totally wish I could grow a beard like that!”

While I don’t doubt their sincerity, perhaps I should print business cards with a link to this very blog post. Handing it to them, I would ask that they review it before spending another joule wishing for a beautiful, glorious beard.

Thank god the NFL has returned! What the hell else would I write my first article about? Otherwise, I’d be lost and writing about some inane little persnickety issue that pissed me off today.  But no I get to ramble about everyone’s favorite violent pastime, football!

This season is going to be one of the greatest in recent history for one simple reason.  We, the fans and so-called experts, have no idea what will transpire.  NONE! Don’t believe me, do you? Tell me this; did anyone see Peyton Manning missing this season with a neck injury coming? Or David Garrand getting cut? Or Carson Palmer retiring out of spite?

The reason these were surprises was because of the lack of off season.  We didn’t have any reporters talking to their team contacts, interviewing players, or doing their due diligence with the medical experts.  They were discussing the lockout, staking out the meetings, and thinking about what would happen to them if the season was canceled.  We, the fans, had no off season workouts to attend, reports from teams to endlessly dissect on our favorite blog(psst, this one), or studying up on our fantasy drafts.

Then suddenly, the season was here! The off season was a mere 5 weeks, preseason was played, and week 1 was among us with nary a chance to breath.  Systems were shoved down new players throats, youngsters were vetted with little prep time, and the lack of practices limited physical conditioning.  The chess game had begun with new pieces but with very little info to go on as a fan, expert, player, and even as a coach.

Week 1 had all the excitement of the playoffs.  Big unseen upsets, huge defensive plays, and amazing offensive explosions (looking at you Tom terrific.).  Teams surprised, disappointed, shocked, awed, angered, and saddened.  What does Week 2 have in store? Keep reading and let me read from my crystal ball.

Chiefs at Lions

This will be an ugly game for anyone from Kansas City.  (Sorry Anne and Paul!) They played putrid football against everyone’s favorite pinata, the Buffalo Bills and lost a laugher.  Jamaal Charles looked languid and Matt Cassel is still favoring his boo-boo.  On the other hand, the Lions look like they could be a force to reckon with this year.  They played great during the preseason while Matt Stafford has looked sharp.  If he can stay healthy and their defense anchored by the twin beasts of Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley keep playing well, they’ll be dangerous.  Lions 28-7.

Seahawks at Steelers

Pete Carroll turned 60 yesterday and the Steelers will have a huge birthday present for him on Sunday, a big fat loss.  All sorts of pundits and experts starting screaming the end of a dynasty after Pittsburgh laid an egg against the Ravens but they’re dead wrong.  Ben Roethlisberger threw three INTs while the Steelers fumbled four times and recovered NONE! Do you want to guess how often a team has won when turning over the ball seven times in one game? Once since 1970.  The odds are that won’t happen again,  even if you ignore the fact that the Steelers are one of the most veteran teams in the league with a consistent winning record and two Superbowl visits in four years.  And the Seahawks play in the NFC West, the worst division in football.  Nuff said.  Steelers 35-3.

Raiders at Bills

Ah the Bills! They have been the whipping boys of the AFC East for years.  Is this the year they bypass the Dolphins and become the third wheel of the ongoing Patriots-Jets story? I don’t know yet but I suspect they have a chance with Ryan Fitzpatrick at the helm.  But I’m not sold on their run defense and with Darren McFadden coming to town, we’ll find out very quickly how good the Bills really are.  McFadden is a bona fide beast and might be a better bet at every down back for fantasy this year then Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, or Arian Foster.  This one will be a bitter pill for the long suffering Bills fans as they will watch their Bills lose a heart breaker to the Raiders, 21-17.

Packers at Panthers

Cam Newton.  I’m reminded of Dennis Green’s infamous press conference blow up.  I’m paraphrasing a bit but “If you want to crown his ass, go ahead and do it!” Don’t get me wrong, Newton had one hell of a debut.  He can throw the ball with accuracy, be dangerous on his feet, and make good decisions…against a horrendous secondary.  He threw that well against the Cardinals, the revolving door franchise whose only saving grace Larry “When the Fuck am I going to get some help here” Fitzgerald.  And the Panthers still lost.  And they’re hosting the Super Bowl champs and one of the best QBs in the country(Aaron Rodgers for those of you who didn’t know) and a superb defense.  The Pack will stomp all over the Panthers and win in a blowout, 35-14.

Ravens at Titans

Who plays for the Titans again? Oh yeah, Chris Johnson…he’s pretty good.  Got anyone else? I’ll give you five bucks if you can name someone else.  Nothing? Yep, there are your 2011 Tennessee Titans.   Ray Rice and company will run roughshod over the Titans, 28-7.

Browns at Colts

As a diehard Patriots fan, this pains me to say but Peyton Manning is the greatest QB playing today.  How else can we explain how terribly the Colts looked without him last week and during the preseason? They look like a lost team that forgot how to play the game of football.  Kerry Collins looked like the old man he is and their defense looked sloppy and slow.  But I think they’ll get their mojo back against the Browns who still look lost in the woods.  Colt McCoy could become a very good NFL QB but he has some work to get there.  Of course, it won’t be easy while playing for the Cleveland Browns.  They don’t have enough weapons and Collins will have enough tricks up his sleeve to pull one out, 21-10.

Buccaneers at Vikings

Jaash Freeman and the Bucs looked pedestrian last week against the Lions.  When your QB leads your team in rushing, that is not a good sign.  While Freeman did throw for 259 yards, much of that yardage was in garbage time while the Lions were playing prevent defense.  On the other hand, you have the Vikings that absolutely stunk out Qualcomm Stadium against the Chargers.  McNabb looked like he was 80 while throwing for 39 yards and Adrian Petersen could barely get anything going on the ground.  The Vikes couldn’t do anything right against a traditionally weak defensive team.  I’m afraid to say this but the horns will not be making much noise Sunday afternoon as the Bucs will win 24-10.

Cardinals at Redskins

Larry Fitzgerald, what were you thinking when you signed that contract with Arizona? Do you have such a self loathing personality that you must punish yourself everyday? How else do we explain it? Perhaps with the fact that he did get to a Super Bowl with an aging Kurt Warner and he believes that Kevin Kolb is a better QB.  Let’s go that direction.  But is Kevin Kolb a good enough QB to power an offense that needs to cover up for one of the most atrocious defenses in the entire league? No but they still will beat Sexy Rexy and the Skins.  Any team owned by Dan Synder will always be picked against by moi as they just seem to implode on themselves in more interesting ways every year.  Yes they beat the Giants last week but the Giants don’t have enough starters to play a Pop Warner team, let alone compete in the NFL.  The Cards win a close one, 21-14.

Bears at Saints

Da Bears vs Who Dat! People are talking about if Chicago can slow down the Saints high powered attack.  Simple answer is no.  They beat the Falcons by recovering five fumbles and capitalizing on those turnovers.  They also took advantage of every mistake the Falcons made, exemplified by the shove of Matt Forte on his 60+ yard TD scamper by a defender who had a perfect shot at him.  The Saints lost a close one to the defending champs in Green Bay.  Drew Brees will light up the Bears, 35-20.

Jaguars at Jets

The Jags beat their lowly division mates, the Titans, 16-14.  They released their starting quarterback mere days before the beginning of the season.  Luckily, they have Maurice Jones-Drew, one of the most durable running backs in the league.  But they’re playing the Jets in the Meadowlands and going up against a tough defense that loves to play smash mouth football.  They have no chance.  Revis and Rex will tear the Jaguars to pieces and Sanchez will throw over the pieces.  21-10 Jets.

Cowboys at 49ers

The 49ers look to be the darling of the miserable NFC West.  They pummeled on the hapless Seahawks and showed why they’re the early favorite in the NFC West.  Their opponents this weekend, who would fit into the NFC West are the always underwhelming Cowboys.  Tony Romo and company always find a way to lose games they should have won.  This week will be no different.  Jerry Jones will have to defend his QB for the second week in a row after the Boys choke away another close one 28-24.

Chargers at Patriots

I’m a homer.  I love the Pats.  I loved watching Tom Brady pick apart the Dolphins secondary last week.  I loved seeing Wes Welker outrun men twice his size and muscle mass.  I loved watching Gronk play a WR role.  I loved…Ok, I’ll stop.  And better yet, I’m going to be at this game! YAHOO!  This will be an old fashioned shoot out as both Philip Rivers and Tom Brady can zip the pigskin around like no one else.  It will be high scoring but I believe in the Pats defense a bit more than the Chargers and home field advantage will play a pivotal role as we’ll all “be lubed up”, in the immortal words of Tom Terrific.  Pats 35-24.

Bengals at Broncos

Both the Broncos and the Bengals look like teams in flux right now.  Neither team has an identity as the Bengals lost their starting QB due to the management playing chicken with Carson Palmer and the Broncos’ fan base wants Tim Tebow, not Kyle Orton.  These two franchises will be lost in the woods all season and I’ll put money on the fact that Tebow will start before Week 10.  I’m picking the Broncos in a snoozer, 17-10.

Texans at Dolphins

The Fins played a heck of a game against the Pats last Monday night.  They took chances on 4th down, called a QB draw that went for a TD, and hucked the ball around the field.  They still got pummeled.  When your vaunted free agent Reggie Bush is out rushed by your QB, the gangly and goofy Chad Henne, you might have wasted your money.  The Texans beat up on the Peytonless Colts and will do the same to the bottom dwellers of the AFC East as Matt Schaub(don’t you throw any INTs so I can get some god damn fantasy points from you!) and company will walk away with an easy win 28-10.

Eagles at Falcons

Matty Ice and the Falcons looked lost last week against the Bears.  They couldn’t capitalize on the few mistakes the Bears made and their defense forgot they weren’t playing in a flag football league.  Their road gets even harder this week when the Eagles and former hero Michael Vick come to town.  Will he be booed or cheered? I loath to say it, but I think Vick will get a bigger cheer than Matt Ryan.  The Eagles will pound on the Falcon’s hopeless defense and the Falcon’s supposed high flying offense will have it’s wings clipped by Nnamdi Asomugha in a hometown loss that will sting the preseason favorites.  28-17 Eagles.

Rams at Giants

Terrible Monday night game.  Before the season began, this looked to be a marquee match up with the hard nosed Giants defense playing the young, up and coming offense of the Rams.  Well the G-men D has been decimated as is the Rams sputtering offense that may be without Sam Bradford and Stephen Jackson.  It’ll be a sloppy game but home field advantage will tilt this one slightly towards the G-men, 21-14.

This is a very strange experience writing a post on an airplane for our blog, let alone on an iPad.  But that’s life in the 21st century.  What would Mark Twain, Charles Dickens,  J.R.R Toliken, or even Stephen King think? Thinking on it, I better not give Mr. King the idea or he’ll end up terrorizing a plane full of people in mid flight.  However, I digress.

Welcome to the relaunched and expertly redesigned IRdC! Hokie and I hope you like it but if you don’t, please forward your comments to our complainant department.  We have operators waiting around the clock ready to take your calls.  With our relaunch, I’ve spent considerable time thinking about what I want to have this blog be personally.

Hokie and I started this with the very vague plans of posting something nearly every day.  Apart from that, we really didn’t give ourselves much direction. We dubbed around and posted when we felt like it and with very few recurring or connected posts.  It was fun and exciting when we elicited comments from you, our constant readers.  But as with most things that you fail to commit to, “real life” intruded on the blog.  It took a back seat to work and big changes in life, not the least being my marriage and Hokie’s move to the sunny coast of California.

Writing has always held a fascination for me.  I began reading at an early age and have spent many hours exploring Middle Earth, Mid-World, the universe, Europe, small town America, futuristic metropolises, and ancient settlements.  I love words.  They enthrall, tantalize, educate, preach, mourn, bellow, whisper, thrill, and leave you wanting more.  Writing is a form of immortality.  Your funny stories may be misremembered or repeated incorrectly, but words don’t change.  They exist as they were written down.

With this relaunch, I want to explore more of that writing style that sticks with you, reminds you of a forgotten thought, or just makes you laugh out loud.  I will continue my most popular posts, my NFL picks as a weekly post but my goal is to provide slightly more with my posts then just a video and a quick synopsis.  I hope you enjoy our new look and continue to enjoy these posts.  Thanks for coming back, our constant reader, and hello to any new converts!

A few months back, I read a book by Clay Shirkey entitled, Cognitive Surplus. It is based around the fact that post World War II and with the popularization of the forty-hour workweek, Americans had enormous amounts of free time. At that time, this was a relatively novel concept. Flash forward roughly six decades and technology has provided us with the world wide web, with it many publishing platforms for the masses. The spare time combined with the internet has thus created: cognitive surplus.

The book also makes it a point to mention that not everyone is taking full advantage, or advantage at all, of this surplus. In fact, a lot of folks are simply what the book calls ‘looky-loos’. Pulling this term from the article, “Romancing the Looky-Loos” (David Hickey, 1997), Shirkey explains that lots of people are merely consuming silently.

The downside of this fact is that performers (musicians, athletes, etc.) often like audience participation as it helps to guide their performance. Instead, many people sit quietly and watch a live show as if they’re staring at a television screen.

Yesterday, I came upon and article over at Art of Manliness, called “Viewers vs. Doers: The Rise of Spectatoritis“. It takes the previous concept of “looky-loos” further, explaining that even if an audience member is actively participating in an event, they’re still just that, a spectator.

The problem with ‘Spectatoritis’, the title of a 1938 book by Jay B. Nash, is that there are less and less people producing quality content. As folks spend time consuming, they could be using a percentage of that time producing. Granted there is plenty of content being generated online, but it’s important to underscore “quality“. One deterrent might be that our culture doesn’t always encourage the creation of work by amateurs (e.g.: anonymous online comments).

So how might we as a culture change this sort of thing? Well, it might start with a little empathy. Are you a “looky-loo”? Then perhaps at the next concert you attend, be it Ben Folds or your nephew on the 3rd piccolo, consider how you might feel if you were on the stage. Keep that question in mind as the show comes to a close and cheer accordingly.

The same goes with ‘Specatoritis’. Before you post a scathing comment online, or berate that god damned quarterback, ask yourself, what have I produced lately? If the answer is nothing, then why? Are you afraid of the community of jackals? Or perhaps wary of your own inner critic?

[Sidenote:  I know of a blog, on the internet, that is always looking for quality guest posts. (Wink wink, nod nod.) Hit us up.]