It's Friday!!!

And wherever you are, and whatever you're doing, the staff at Mutterings of a Mad Bookseller wants to remind you- it's never a bad time for a beer!

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From ABC News this morning-

Forget rubber chicken dinners and boring ballroom events. Thursday night, Bill Clinton showed up at Soul Cycle, a new club in New York's tony upper west side neighborhood, for a spinning class turned fundraiser for his wife's campaign for the White House. About 45 people (the majority of them women) paid $2300 for the chance to sit on a stationary bike and meet the former president of the United States.

"He sort of wandered through the bikes in our small studio," said owner Julie Rice, "brushing up against handlebars and greeted everyone personally, which I think was one of the main reasons that this was so special. It was such a small setting."

Clinton told stories and took questions for more than half an hour. Spinning classes at Soul Cycle normally cost about $25. But for this special class spinners paid $2300 apiece and they never even got to see Clinton sweat. He showed up in a suit and told the class he had already worked out earlier in the day.

They weren't disappointed. Asked if they would've liked to have seen President Clinton on a bike, two donors giggled: "No, definitely not."

So let me get this straight- they found women who were willing to pay thousands of dollars to dress up in Spandex and "spin" for Bill Clinton?

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According to the Associated Press-

DETROIT -- A first-term congressman from Michigan who compared parts of Iraq to Detroit and Harvey, Ill., an economically depressed Chicago suburb, defended the comments Thursday. Rep. Tim Walberg said those were just two examples of communities where safety and city services are comparable to 80 percent to 85 percent of Iraq.

Walberg, a Republican, said on Detroit radio station WJR-AM that U.S. troops in Iraq tell him the military is succeeding. "People are walking around communities (in Iraq) as safe as they are walking around _ at the very least _ in Detroit and Chicago and other places," he said.

Walberg made similar comments Monday on a Lansing radio show, drawing criticism from Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's office and Harvey Mayor Eric J. Kellogg.

So Rep. Walberg is volunteering to go on a walking tour of Iraq someday soon? Hey, I think it's a great idea. I'll contribute to a fund to buy him a plane ticket.

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And now that Spring is here, I wanted to go out and buy a new grill...

eBay bans Manny Ramirez grill

You can't ever say that Boston Red Sox fans aren't enthusiastic. A gas grill, reportedly listed by Manny Ramirez, has been removed from online auction site eBay Inc. after bids spiked to nearly $100 million. Originally purchased for about $4,000 and used once, according to the Red Sox slugger's testimony, the minimum bid of $3,000 was registered shortly after 1:00 p.m. Tuesday. By midnight, the offers were out of control.

While the site offered no explanation for the listing's removal, other parts of the eBay web site warn that items may be taken down if thought to violate eBay policies. The listing had featured seven pictures of the Jenn-Air grill, two with Ramirez in the shot.

When asked by the Associated Press why he was helping sell the grill (later discovered to belong to a neighbor), the ballplayer with the $160 million contract joked "I need the money." He also promised an autographed baseball for the winning bidder.

Everyone here in Boston loves Manny. I mean, how could you not? Manny's just so, so Manny!

Play Ball!