There are countless examples of professional sports teams who, in an effort to develop new playing facilities for their franchises, have turned to the public for funding, through additional taxes. The suggestion is that improved facilities deliver increased revenues and additional business to the surrounding areas, therefore offering the potential to invigorate an entire community's economy.

Yet if one examines the underlying issues, it simply doesn't hold water. The fans who would vote in favor of public funding are the very folks who would be asked to pay the resulting increase in ticket prices that is inevitable, and the owners themselves would be raking in the profits from expanded turnstiles. Yet, not even that level of support can guarantee loyalty. Though funded publicly, the owners are under no obligation to put a good team on the field or on the court, to spend a minimum amount on salaries, and they are not required to keep a team in a city, but have the opportunity to uproot the franchise if they think they've found a better deal.

Locally, the San Francisco Giants repeatedly set up ballot initiatives to gain public financial support, and continually failed. Instead, the team's owners turned to private funding, and with a little help from sponsors and naming rights, AT&T (nee PacBell and SBC) Park was developed.

Now, we see the Sacramento Kings trying the same thing - begging for a quarter-cent sales tax to be inflicted on the public to gain them a replacement for Arco Arena, even though only 27% of those asked in a survey thought the team needed a new court as it is. This evening, according to the Sacramento Bee, KCRA and others, talks with city and county governments have stalled, and it will be at least another two years before they can put the proposed measure in front of voters again. I for one think it's time the billionaire owners took a serious risk and found the good business sense to invest in the community themselves.

Listening to ''Microclimate'', by Stereolab (Play Count: 4)

Long considered one of the world's best DJs, Paul Oakenfold hasn't gotten the most rave of reviews for his solo album efforts, best exemplified by 2002's "Bunkka", which brought us the hits "Ready Steady Go" and "Starry Eyed Surprise". And while enjoyable, the one time I saw him in concert in San Francisco, I wasn't exactly blown away. Tag-teamed with Crystal Method, I actually enjoyed their opening act more than Oakenfold's repetitive spinning and visuals.

With that said, last month iTunes alerted me to a new album by Oakenfold titled "A Lively Mind." Being a loyal trance junkie, it rapidly found its place in my Purchased Music list, and has been a staple in my music rotation of late. The tracks "Feed Your Mind" and "No Compromise" are some of the better tracks, adding good background energy to any task I'm pursuing on the laptop (by far my #1 music source).

If you're not familiar enough with Oakenfold's work, try out "A Lively Mind" from iTunes, and then travel over to Amazon to get his back tracks. There's plenty there.

Listening to ''No Compromise (Featuring Spitfire)'', by Paul Oakenfold featuring Spitfire (Play Count: 5)

Being a TV cheapskate, we've never, ever, had HBO. Not when I was living at home, not when I was in college, not when I was single, and not now that I'm married. As a result, we've "missed out" on a number of HBO shows that garnered tremendous critical acclaim - from Oz to the Sopranos, and Sex In the City.

With most all shows in summer reruns, we tested out our TiVo by visiting the nether-regions of the cable lineup, all the way down to ESPN Classic, where we were hoping to find historic baseball contests or athlete profiles. Instead, we stumbled upon Arli$$, which started its life as an HBO feature, and now is getting a second wind in syndication on the ESPN offshoot. So, on a lark, having always heard good things about the show, we politely asked our TiVo to look into it on a more consistent basis.

The show, as you may know, focuses on a big-name sports agent, and his efforts to get the largest amount of bucks for his clients. After seeing five or so episodes, we're hooked - and we're going to bleed the show dry this summer, or until we're tired of it, whatever comes first. Even my wife has found it funny. So on top of our regular fare, currently dominated by Oakland A's baseball, and House reruns, Arli$$ is making a good run.

Listening to ''Night'', by M83 (Play Count: 4)

Back after dusting off our wounds from the Vonage IPO disaster, we're still on the hunt for potential bargains in the stock market, looking for anything with a chance to jump. For some reason, I'm not all that patient with stocks that I just don't know all that well (or think I do). So, today featured a number of IPOs, including J Crew, and Utah software company Omniture. I made my bet and got into Omniture this morning at $6.39, below the initial price of $6.50.

Sure enough, after I did that, the stock started to trend down - to $6.15, to $6.10, and down... as I should have known, right? It was an instant replay of the Vonage mess.

Yet, by end of day, somehow, the stock turned itself around, finishing at $6.53, up a mere 2% for me, and less than one half of one percent for the company. Yet, for some reason, silly news wire reporters remained confused. Reuters said "Omniture shares rally in market debut", while TheStreet.com said most of the IPOs were "duds". And for anybody scoring at home, J Crew was up 28%. Guess I picked the wrong horse.

Listening to ''Moonboy'', by Christopher Lawrence (Play Count: 4)