Hi everyone,

Welcome back.  How are you?  How was your weekend?  I had a good time, as usual, helping Dad Clutter park cars for the NH NASCAR race yesterday.  He's got a large crew of "regulars," who park in his driveway, and most of them are very nice.  It's always a surprisingly tiring activity, which makes me think I may need to be hitting the gym or bike a little more often.  So, that was fun, but it was nice to come home and see that BDH and Little Buddha left Clutter Headquarters in one piece while I was gone.  Either they're not quite the party animals they used to be, or they've just gotten better at cleaning up.  Anyway, it's time to get to work, so grab yourself a nice medium iced DD, and let's clear out some Monday Clutter.

I'm still saddened and angered by the verdict of the Trayvon Martin case.  It's outrageous that our judicial system condones the stalking and murdering of children.  I hope that Trayvon Martin's parents will sue George Zimmerman in civil court, and I also hope that the U.S. Justice Department will pursue federal charges against him, because there's no reality-based argument this this was anything but a race-motivated crime.  Zimmerman went after Martin because he was scared of a black kid in a hoodie, pure and simple.   

Condolences to the friends and family of actor Cory Monteith who was found dead yesterday.  A The cause of death has not been determined yet, though the Glee star had recently been in rehab.  Monteith was only 31 years old. 

Could it be possible that Nelson Mandela will be discharged from the hospital soon after spending the last month battling a lung infection?

It was looking like the Boston Red Sox were going to enter the All Star break on a high note yesterday.  Rookie pitcher Brandon Workman had a no-no and the lead through the first six innings of yesterday's game against the Oakland Athletics, but it was not meant to be, as the A's came back to win 3-2 in extra innings.  Now Big Papi, Dustin Pedroia will fly off to the All Star game, while the rest of the team gets most of this week off. 

I know we're really well past the season midpoint now, but let's just take a moment to appreciate that this team is 20 games over .500  (58-38) and has been a lot of fun to watch so far.   Here's hoping that the team comes back refreshed, healthy and ready to continue this run when the second half of the season resumes on Friday against the new York Yankees.

Clutter is still in denial that Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who at the end of the year, but he's not done just yet, as he and the lovely Jenna-Louise Coleman made a surprise appearance on Saturday:

Speaking of Doctor Who, I'm still trying to past my jealousy over the fact that several of my friends saw former Who star Arthur Darvill in the Broadway version of Once this weekend.  They didn't know who Darvill was, but the review I got was that he was great.  Of course he was.  Damn it, I'm turning green again.

Arthur Darvill and co-star Joanna Christie  (pic via broadway.com)

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  I think we'll have Cory Monteith and the rest of the Glee cast close things out with the performance that put the show on the map in its pilot episode for today's "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  Enjoy the rest of your day, and make sure you come back again soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clutter, and don't stop believin, but we are outta here.