Some random thoughts:

* Reports out of India suggest that the dilatory powers of Viagra can also help with a pulmonary disease that can lead to heart failure. A larger study will help to confirm or deny this. Not sure why I find this significant, but I do.

* TV watchers may have seen the Coors Light ad with "Wingdog," the sequel to the great "Wingman" ad. It's basically a song about how a dog can be used by guys to break the ice with women. It's not as good as the original ad, but it's still head and shoulders above their usual advertising (though the lyric about the dog's "nine inch tail" is a pretty lame double entendre).

* I have no feelings regarding UConn's double titles. I don't hate UConn like some of my western Mass. bretheren, but I'm not a huge fan, either. I just hope the kids stop flipping and burning cars before the week is out.

* Another Yahoo headline (I think from yesterday) reported that Americans are now less vigilant about STDs than in the past. How are we going to stop al-Qaeda if we can't stop something microscopic? Remember, every time you don't use protection, the terrorists win.

* One of the things I love about early season baseball: your division leaders at this point are Tampa Bay, Detroit, Anaheim, Florida/NY Mets (tied), Milwaukee, and San Francisco. I'll set the over/under line on the number of these teams still being division leaders on September 1st at 1.5.

* And let's not even go to the stats portion of things, where Joe Mauer and Toby Hall are tied with the AL batting lead at .750.

* But let's go to the new rivalry for '04: Yankees-Rays. You apparently cannot stop Victor Zambrano, you can only hope to contain him. And while we're here, how is it that the Yankees played the Tigers to a 7-7 tie in the middle of all those games that counted? I assume a scheduling thing based on their trip to Japan, but it's odd nonetheless.

* In what I promise will be my last baseball point, this whole Pedro Martinez thing is a tempest in a teapot, but sadly the sort of thing that the local media loves to bray on about. The Knights of the Keyboard ride again.

* My personal development took a new step yesterday as I got to practice parallel parking on the mean streets of Wellesley. Not surprisingly, I suck at it. I don't remember if I had to do it when I last took the driving test, but as that was 17 years ago (or, as I like to call it, half a lifetime), I can't bet on it not being there.