Boy, am I hungry - on Frances, Ivan, Chappelle, Gondry and the incomparable Cobi Jones

First, the damn rain. So this was some sort of record and wrecked havoc on the subways, and by extension, the buses.

Gothamist has a nice wrap up. Gothamist also asks the very simple question we never thought to ask until yesterday morning, "Do subways have drains?"

But I can't complain too much. Hurricane Ivan smashes Carribean isles. (BBC News)

Now to soccer. USA is fast improving and the Yanks are now ranked #10 in the very flawed, but mostly objective FIFA rankings. Meanwhile Panama's somewhere between 60 and 200. I don't know. You can look it up. So when USA visited Panama City for a World Cup qualifier match, it should've been a breeze (staying with the tropical storm theme, natch), right? Well, not quite.

US escapes Panama with a draw, thanks to a late equalizer by the ageless, but vertically challenged substitute, Cobi Jones. (ESPN Soccernet)

USA hoops on the other hand, just suffered the humiliation of a winning only the bronze medal in Athens. Naturally, everyone is scrambling for solutions and trying to come up with somewhat non-half baked ideas. The best one yet? Hold tryouts. Brilliant! (Andy Katz, ESPN.com)

Chappelle teams with Gondry on pic (Variety.com via Yahoo! News):

Dave Chappelle is spreading his wings further into the feature film arena.

Comedian has teamed up with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" helmer Michel Gondry to produce and star in an untitled feature to be directed by Gondry.

Pic, whose exact content is being kept under wraps is based on an idea by Chappelle and will combine music and comedy.

It was inspired by "Wattstax" a documentary of a nonstop seven-hour musical event in August 1972 at the Los Angeles Coliseum that starred soul, R&B and gospel artists and was hosted by comedian Richard Pryor.

Good lord, this could be the greatest film, ever ever ever.
Chappelle: Chappelle's Show - Season 1, Dave Chappelle - Killin' Them Softly, Half Baked
Gondry: Work of Director Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

And a couple of random links with a British accent:
Half "would help loved ones die" (BBC News)
Minipops - absolutely brilliant.