Every once in a while, scientists figure something out that is not only a break-through, but hilarious at the same time.
Case in point: It's a gas: dinosaur flatulence may have warmed Earth.
Now, I have no idea if dinosaur farts really warmed the Earth in the Mesozoic era, but that headline sure warmed my sick, little heart. There's lots of real science in that article. They calculated the effect of methane production from current numbers of cows, sheeps and pigs. Then they calculated the numbers and average size of dinosaurs living in the Mesozoic. From there they were able to calculate the amount of methane produced and the effect on the environment.
But I don't care about any of that. Because dinosaur farts are funny. And probably really awful. Imagine hanging with your dicky dinosaur friends. Just taking a drive to the movies of something. Suddenly the dino-driver rolls up all the windows and locks them. You all wait for a second, and then it hits you! Deadly dino-gas! The driver, of course, thinks it the funniest thing in the world. Because not only did they produce prodigious amounts of gas (probably), they also had tiny, tiny brains.
And we all know that creatures with tiny brains find a lot of humor in flatulence.
Wait...what?
*It's a gas, gas, gas. Get it? Derp...
May 8, 2012
May 7, 2012
3D Sucks
Here's a tip for movie studios:
If you are aren't planning on 3D effects for the entire film, or if you are thinking about adding 3D post-production, just say no.
It becomes distracting to the viewers if the film switches back and forth from 3D to normal projection because some scenes are just too difficult or expensive to transfer to 3D.
Case in point: I loved The Avengers. There is literally nothing I could say about the film that hasn't already been said thousands of times already by people a helluva lot smarter than me (they wish). My one quibble with it was the post-production 3D*. It made no sense. For example, there was a car chase near the beginning of the film. The chase itself was not in 3D, but every time the perspective switched to inside one of the vehicles the 3D kicked in.
What the fucking fuck is that all about? It was inconsistent at best and distracting at worst.
Just say no. Seriously.
By the way, Dave2 had a great point (spoiler alert) about another minor quibble with the film. I found it even more minor than he did, and I actually had a different issue with the same point. But, like I said, it was minor. The Avengers was a nearly flawless movie-going experience. Notice I didn't say that it was a nearly flawless film. Hard to judge that yet, but as a movie-going experience it ranks up there with Terminator 2: Judgement Day, LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring and Avatar. Three movies that made me shake my head and mouth "holy crap!" over and over and over again while watching them in the theater. Doesn't mean they were all incredible films, although I think the first two are. Avatar, besides the incredible effects, was largely forgettable for me. But that didn't distract from how awesome it was to see it in the theater.
The Avengers was like that. Probably the best super-hero movie I've ever seen. We'll reserve judgement on that until it has had some time to sink in. Just go see it!
*I was warned the night before by several folks to skip the 3D version of the film, but I had already purchased my tix for the next day through Fandango. You live, you learn.
If you are aren't planning on 3D effects for the entire film, or if you are thinking about adding 3D post-production, just say no.
It becomes distracting to the viewers if the film switches back and forth from 3D to normal projection because some scenes are just too difficult or expensive to transfer to 3D.
Case in point: I loved The Avengers. There is literally nothing I could say about the film that hasn't already been said thousands of times already by people a helluva lot smarter than me (they wish). My one quibble with it was the post-production 3D*. It made no sense. For example, there was a car chase near the beginning of the film. The chase itself was not in 3D, but every time the perspective switched to inside one of the vehicles the 3D kicked in.
What the fucking fuck is that all about? It was inconsistent at best and distracting at worst.
Just say no. Seriously.
By the way, Dave2 had a great point (spoiler alert) about another minor quibble with the film. I found it even more minor than he did, and I actually had a different issue with the same point. But, like I said, it was minor. The Avengers was a nearly flawless movie-going experience. Notice I didn't say that it was a nearly flawless film. Hard to judge that yet, but as a movie-going experience it ranks up there with Terminator 2: Judgement Day, LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring and Avatar. Three movies that made me shake my head and mouth "holy crap!" over and over and over again while watching them in the theater. Doesn't mean they were all incredible films, although I think the first two are. Avatar, besides the incredible effects, was largely forgettable for me. But that didn't distract from how awesome it was to see it in the theater.
The Avengers was like that. Probably the best super-hero movie I've ever seen. We'll reserve judgement on that until it has had some time to sink in. Just go see it!
*I was warned the night before by several folks to skip the 3D version of the film, but I had already purchased my tix for the next day through Fandango. You live, you learn.
May 3, 2012
Levon
I'm a few weeks late with this. Sometimes it takes some time to process the events of the day or of the world.
Levon Helm passing away was an event of the world.
I didn't grow up with the music of Levon Helm or The Band. I was late to the the game. I think I started listening to them in my late 20's. Close to 20 years after they, um, disbanded. But once I did, I was done with trying to find the voice of America. It was Levon Helm. Singing about characters like Crazy Chester, Miss Anny and ole Virgil Caine.
There have been more fitting tributes to Mr. Helm in the past week or so than I could ever imagine writing myself. I'm not going to even try.
So do yourself a favor. Go and read Rob Delaney's words here. Then listen to the man himself here.
As Elton John sang, he shall be Levon.
Levon Helm passing away was an event of the world.
I didn't grow up with the music of Levon Helm or The Band. I was late to the the game. I think I started listening to them in my late 20's. Close to 20 years after they, um, disbanded. But once I did, I was done with trying to find the voice of America. It was Levon Helm. Singing about characters like Crazy Chester, Miss Anny and ole Virgil Caine.
There have been more fitting tributes to Mr. Helm in the past week or so than I could ever imagine writing myself. I'm not going to even try.
So do yourself a favor. Go and read Rob Delaney's words here. Then listen to the man himself here.
As Elton John sang, he shall be Levon.
May 2, 2012
House of Lies
I just finished watching the first season of Showtime's House of Lies starring Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell. Well, amongst others. Great supporting work from Ben Schwartz (Jean-Ralphio!!!), Josh Lawson, Greg Germann, Griffin Dunne and Richard Schiff as well. And Donis Leanord Jr. as Cheadle's cross-dressing son is amazing.
I'm not sure I've ever despised and loved a show this much before.
I love the acting and the storylines and the sheer fucking hotness that is Kristen Bell. I despise the characters and everything they stand for. There is a special place in hell reserved for corporate management consultants. And that's what this show is all about. Having had some, ahem, experience with these mother-fuckers, I can guarantee that is true.
Which makes loving the show that much more difficult. I initially tried watching the show with Gia, but she got turned off after the very first episode. Because these people and their jobs are awful. I get that. Yet somehow I had to keep watching. I try to tell myself that it's because of the acting chops of Cheadle and Bell, but I wonder if there is some latent jealousy going on here. The travel, the money, the blatant disregard for the average man/woman on the street.
You see, I dropped out of the corporate life almost 10 years ago. I wasn't a fast-track guy. I put my time and my work in, but I became something of riser in my field because of it. Director, Associate Vice President, Vice President, etc... 80 hours work weeks weren't the exception. They were the norm. And there were perks to go along with it. I almost never went out during the week unless the tab was picked up by the company. And excellent tickets to all the ballgames I wanted to attend. The money was pretty good too, and getting better all the time.
Then 9/11 happened. I know, I know...everyone has their 9/11 story. Mine isn't all that special. I knew some people in the Towers, including my best friend. All of whom survived the attack, by the way. That's not really the point. And, to be honest, my feelings about corporate life had changed before September of 2001. But I just kept on keeping on, like a good zombie. And where my life would lead didn't happen right afterward either. I stuck around, sucking on the corporate teat for another couple of years. But when I looked myself in the soul after 9/11, I knew something had to change.
So here I am now. Wondering where my life would have taken me had I decided to stick with it. I'm certainly happier now than I ever was back then. That's entirely to do with Gia. But the money or the job security in the private sector aren't really something to write home about. So there's that.
Anyway...it's one of those shows that make you think. Or, at least, it's one of those shows that made me think. About what was, about what is, about what could have been.
And I'm not sure how I feel about any of it.
I'm not sure I've ever despised and loved a show this much before.
I love the acting and the storylines and the sheer fucking hotness that is Kristen Bell. I despise the characters and everything they stand for. There is a special place in hell reserved for corporate management consultants. And that's what this show is all about. Having had some, ahem, experience with these mother-fuckers, I can guarantee that is true.
Which makes loving the show that much more difficult. I initially tried watching the show with Gia, but she got turned off after the very first episode. Because these people and their jobs are awful. I get that. Yet somehow I had to keep watching. I try to tell myself that it's because of the acting chops of Cheadle and Bell, but I wonder if there is some latent jealousy going on here. The travel, the money, the blatant disregard for the average man/woman on the street.
You see, I dropped out of the corporate life almost 10 years ago. I wasn't a fast-track guy. I put my time and my work in, but I became something of riser in my field because of it. Director, Associate Vice President, Vice President, etc... 80 hours work weeks weren't the exception. They were the norm. And there were perks to go along with it. I almost never went out during the week unless the tab was picked up by the company. And excellent tickets to all the ballgames I wanted to attend. The money was pretty good too, and getting better all the time.
Then 9/11 happened. I know, I know...everyone has their 9/11 story. Mine isn't all that special. I knew some people in the Towers, including my best friend. All of whom survived the attack, by the way. That's not really the point. And, to be honest, my feelings about corporate life had changed before September of 2001. But I just kept on keeping on, like a good zombie. And where my life would lead didn't happen right afterward either. I stuck around, sucking on the corporate teat for another couple of years. But when I looked myself in the soul after 9/11, I knew something had to change.
So here I am now. Wondering where my life would have taken me had I decided to stick with it. I'm certainly happier now than I ever was back then. That's entirely to do with Gia. But the money or the job security in the private sector aren't really something to write home about. So there's that.
Anyway...it's one of those shows that make you think. Or, at least, it's one of those shows that made me think. About what was, about what is, about what could have been.
And I'm not sure how I feel about any of it.
Apr 27, 2012
Testing, testing...
Hey kids, I got a favor.
If you haven't visited my site in the past day or so, please pop in and let me know if you are having any issues with the page loading. There one person, who shall remain Slyde, who can't access my blog either at home or at work. But I haven't heard any problems from anyone else. Could be that he is just stupid.
Yeah, that's probably it.
If not, please let me know.
PS - Obviously you won't be able to leave a comment if you can't access the site. So email me at babyburke at aol dot com if you can't get in. Thanks!
If you haven't visited my site in the past day or so, please pop in and let me know if you are having any issues with the page loading. There one person, who shall remain Slyde, who can't access my blog either at home or at work. But I haven't heard any problems from anyone else. Could be that he is just stupid.
Yeah, that's probably it.
If not, please let me know.
PS - Obviously you won't be able to leave a comment if you can't access the site. So email me at babyburke at aol dot com if you can't get in. Thanks!
Meh, whatever...
OK, I didn't really try to change the layout of this thing all that hard. Spent maybe 5 minutes on it. It's better than it was, but it's still not inspiring me to pretty up the joint with clever words and the like. Maybe I'm just going through one of those phases. Oy vell.
Let's fuck some shit up with some bullets, shall we?
See you next time!
Let's fuck some shit up with some bullets, shall we?
- The baseball season is closing in on being a month-old now, and it's been a whole heap of fun. My Yankees have only been a mild disappointment. Mild in that they aren't unbeaten at this point, but I'll take it. The cross-town Mets have been a pleasant surprise in that they don't suck as much as I thought they would. They just swept the Miami Marlins, and that was a real nice series for them. But I think I'm most surprised by the dominant starting pitching of the Washington Nationals. They might be my new favorite team to watch who don't wear pinstripes. Very cool.
- This season of Survivor is easily the worst that they have produced thus far. I'm still enjoying it, but it's almost as if they select people specifically with the criteria that they either must have a low IQ or that they must have no concept of how the show works. Because that's what we were given this year. The stupidest players in the stupidest season so far. I'm still a fan, but I can't wait until this one is over.
- Tried Jim Beam/Red Stag Honey Tea bourbon last night for the first time. It was delicious! Very similar to the Honey Jack from Jack Daniels. A little too sweet for me to drink straight, but it goes very well with mixers. Actually, mixing it with sweet tea would be a good idea. A big kick at 80 proof, it doesn't taste nearly that strong. I definitely recommend it. The Red Stag flag is an interesting concept. So far I like the Honey Tea and hate the Black Cherry. But I'm willing to give the Spiced Cinnamon whiskey a try.
- I don't care that some people thing Jim Beam is white trash liqour. Fuck those people! I like Jim Beam and I'm gonna drink Jim Beam until it fucking kills me. Not literally. That would be sad.
- I've been ignoring this blog recently, but I've REALLY been ignoring my/our food blog. From the looks of it, so are the rest of the contributors. I plan on remedying that soon. Watch for it.
- Speaking of food and recipes, I joined Pinterest recently. I don't really get it. I wanted to use it as an online repository for recipes that I like or wanna try, but it's just not organized very well from what I've experienced. Maybe I'm just using it wrong. Probably I'm just using it wrong. We'll see if it sticks.
- I've also been using Instagram since it became available for Android and I'm really enjoying it. A really easy way to post pictures from my phone online and onto Twitter, if I so choose. Do you Instagram? I have no idea how it's worth a billion dollars to Facebook, but that's another story.
- By the way, how is Facebook worth so much? I recently watched The Social Network (good movie, by the way), and I don't get it. I mean, I'm not ON Facebook, but I know a bunch of people who are. Just how are they making all that money? I don't get the Internet sometimes.
- Speaking of Facebook, I always that Sean Parker and Shaun Fanning were the same person. I'm stupid. Both were involved with Napster, but only one was involved with Facebook, right? I'm stupid.
- We have this one mis-matched fork in our cutlery drawer. It doesn't match any of our other cutlery, but it's the only one that I like to use. It's sturdy, and the tines aren't too long. I have no idea where it came from. I'd like to find a matching set, but there is no insignia. If we ever lose that fork, I'm going to be very sad.
See you next time!
Apr 23, 2012
Hate it
Was messing around with my blog layout last week, and this is the result.
I hate it.
So I plan on a total re-do of the old Verdant Dude this week at some point. New masthead, new background, new layout. Something that will make me want to visit the old gentleman a bit more often.
Suggestions and/or criticisms welcome.
Except from Slyde.
I hate it.
So I plan on a total re-do of the old Verdant Dude this week at some point. New masthead, new background, new layout. Something that will make me want to visit the old gentleman a bit more often.
Suggestions and/or criticisms welcome.
Except from Slyde.
Apr 18, 2012
Food Cart Heaven
Had a great experience with some food cart, um, food last week. A place called Garbo's Grill in Key West. I had done a little web reconnaissance before heading there, and I was surprised to see that this little food cart was the highest rated "restaurant" in town on Trip Advisor.
I wasn't surprised for long.
I got down there a few hours ahead of some friends on Tuesday, so I decided to check it out on my own. Figured if it was good, I could be a hero to my buddies by introducing it to them. If it sucked, well...only I would be worse for the wear.
Turned out to be a huge mother-fucking win! Of epic proportions. I was there for 5 days and ate lunch at this food cart 4 of those days. Wish I had eaten lunch there the other day too. Plus some snacks here and there. All of the rest of the crew ate there at least once as well, most of them multiple times. Everyone loved it. Check out this menu:
Very simple, but with the freshest ingredients possible. Everything was stored in coolers that served double-duty as seating for the crowd waiting for the delicious goodies. I had the Cayo fish tacos twice, the Yum Yum shrimp tacos (Cayo-style again) once and the Mango Brie quesadilla with Jerk Chicken the last time there. All were awesome. I also tried some of the Kogi Korean BBQ tacos that another friend ordered. Incredible! And the couple that own the cart are some of the nicest folks you will ever meet. On my second day there, I already felt like a regular with them yelling out my name when they saw me every time afterward. Good stuff.
I think I love a good food cart. Especially when it's run by a couple of foodies like this one here. And there are a TON of supposedly great food carts in NYC, but I really don't frequent them. I really think I should, based on this experience. At the very least, I'm going to do some research into the ones that are getting some good press.
But Long Island is a barren wasteland for delicious food cart, um, food. I've just never seen nor heard of any really good food carts out here.
I think I'm going to make it my new obsession. Find a great food cart here on the island, or find someone willing to open one. Because this kind of food? It's my kind of food. And I don't think I can ever go back to a world that doesn't have this kind of food in it anymore.
How about you? Any good food carts near you that you love?
I wasn't surprised for long.
I got down there a few hours ahead of some friends on Tuesday, so I decided to check it out on my own. Figured if it was good, I could be a hero to my buddies by introducing it to them. If it sucked, well...only I would be worse for the wear.
Turned out to be a huge mother-fucking win! Of epic proportions. I was there for 5 days and ate lunch at this food cart 4 of those days. Wish I had eaten lunch there the other day too. Plus some snacks here and there. All of the rest of the crew ate there at least once as well, most of them multiple times. Everyone loved it. Check out this menu:
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| click for mouth-watering goodness |
Very simple, but with the freshest ingredients possible. Everything was stored in coolers that served double-duty as seating for the crowd waiting for the delicious goodies. I had the Cayo fish tacos twice, the Yum Yum shrimp tacos (Cayo-style again) once and the Mango Brie quesadilla with Jerk Chicken the last time there. All were awesome. I also tried some of the Kogi Korean BBQ tacos that another friend ordered. Incredible! And the couple that own the cart are some of the nicest folks you will ever meet. On my second day there, I already felt like a regular with them yelling out my name when they saw me every time afterward. Good stuff.
I think I love a good food cart. Especially when it's run by a couple of foodies like this one here. And there are a TON of supposedly great food carts in NYC, but I really don't frequent them. I really think I should, based on this experience. At the very least, I'm going to do some research into the ones that are getting some good press.
But Long Island is a barren wasteland for delicious food cart, um, food. I've just never seen nor heard of any really good food carts out here.
I think I'm going to make it my new obsession. Find a great food cart here on the island, or find someone willing to open one. Because this kind of food? It's my kind of food. And I don't think I can ever go back to a world that doesn't have this kind of food in it anymore.
How about you? Any good food carts near you that you love?
Apr 17, 2012
Been busy
Life hits ya like that sometimes. Nothing gruesome, just busy.
Back to regular posting shortly, but in the meantime...here's some music.
Back to regular posting shortly, but in the meantime...here's some music.
Apr 9, 2012
NCIB - Week 1 Recap
Note: Every Monday, I'll be posting some notes about the new
fantasy baseball league called No Crying in Baseball that I'm hosting.
Feel free to read and comment, but it's mostly for the members of that
league. And this goes against the Golden Rule of fantasy sports which
states "No One Cares About Your Fantasy Team", but I don't give a crap.
So read on, or don't...I'm jake either way.
__________________________________________________________________
A long time ago in a fantasy league far, far away, I used to do a weekly write-up of the league happenings. A list of goats (not Sea Goats), heroes and the Hester Award for the manager who left the biggest fantasy stud on his bench the prior week. Named after a member of that league who was known for that. He would struggle with his decisions so much each week, but would be guaranteed to pick the wrong guy. Besides the award, the process itself is referred to as "hestering" in a very small circle. Now you get to join in on that fun. So here we go. Let's have some fun with this.
Standings
Let's face it. After just 3 games, the standings don't mean a hell of a lot right now. So I'm going to ignore them this week, except for a hearty congratulations to The Gotlanders for being in 1st place. There was much rejoicing....yay! Obviously, no one is out of it yet. Keep on grinding, kids.
Heroes
1. Chad Billingsley (Otis Day & the Knights) - 8.1 IP, 1 BB, 11 K for a total of 53.17 points.
2. Jered Weaver (The Miracles) - 8 IP, 10 K for a total of 52.80 points.
3. Nick Markakis (Kill Moose&Squirrel) - 5/9, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3BB for a total of 49.00 points.
Goats
Would have sworn that Josh Beckett and his 5 HR train-wreck of a start would have taken the top spot here, but Yovani Gallardo managed to out-doo him. Wow. Those are two very good pitchers with two very bad games there. Oh yeah, nice way to start the season Alex Gordon. Dude is anchoring my outfield in BOTH of my leagues. Thanks a lot!
1. Yovani Gallardo (The Miracles) - 3.2 IP, 4 HR, 5 BB, 3 K for a whopping -45.97 points.
2. Josh Beckett (Shagging Flies) - 4.2 IP, 5 HR, 1 BB, 3K totaling -42.87 points.
3. Alex Gordon (Chisolm Moonbeams) - 0-13, 1 BB for -10.00 points. Yup.
Hester Award
The first Hester goes to Shagging Flies for having Ryan Dempster and his 10-strikeout game on his bench. Dempster had a total line of 7.2 IP, 3BB and the aforementioned 10 K for a total of 42.43 points, the 5th best total for a pitcher in this truncated week. Except that they didn't count because he was on the bench. Bravo, Shagging Flies! You win the first Hester of the year!
Standings
Let's face it. After just 3 games, the standings don't mean a hell of a lot right now. So I'm going to ignore them this week, except for a hearty congratulations to The Gotlanders for being in 1st place. There was much rejoicing....yay! Obviously, no one is out of it yet. Keep on grinding, kids.
Heroes
1. Chad Billingsley (Otis Day & the Knights) - 8.1 IP, 1 BB, 11 K for a total of 53.17 points.
2. Jered Weaver (The Miracles) - 8 IP, 10 K for a total of 52.80 points.
3. Nick Markakis (Kill Moose&Squirrel) - 5/9, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3BB for a total of 49.00 points.
Goats
Would have sworn that Josh Beckett and his 5 HR train-wreck of a start would have taken the top spot here, but Yovani Gallardo managed to out-doo him. Wow. Those are two very good pitchers with two very bad games there. Oh yeah, nice way to start the season Alex Gordon. Dude is anchoring my outfield in BOTH of my leagues. Thanks a lot!
1. Yovani Gallardo (The Miracles) - 3.2 IP, 4 HR, 5 BB, 3 K for a whopping -45.97 points.
2. Josh Beckett (Shagging Flies) - 4.2 IP, 5 HR, 1 BB, 3K totaling -42.87 points.
3. Alex Gordon (Chisolm Moonbeams) - 0-13, 1 BB for -10.00 points. Yup.
Hester Award
The first Hester goes to Shagging Flies for having Ryan Dempster and his 10-strikeout game on his bench. Dempster had a total line of 7.2 IP, 3BB and the aforementioned 10 K for a total of 42.43 points, the 5th best total for a pitcher in this truncated week. Except that they didn't count because he was on the bench. Bravo, Shagging Flies! You win the first Hester of the year!
Apr 6, 2012
New Coat of Paint
A little Tom Waits. Just because it's Friday. Just because...
New Coat of Paint
Tom Waits
Let's put a new coat of paint on this lonesome old town
Set 'em up, we'll be knockin' em down.
You wear a dress, baby, and I'll wear a tie.
We'll laugh at that old bloodshot moon in that burgundy sky
Set 'em up, we'll be knockin' em down.
You wear a dress, baby, and I'll wear a tie.
We'll laugh at that old bloodshot moon in that burgundy sky
All your scribbled lovedreams, are lost or thrown away,
Here amidst the shuffle of an overflowing day
Our love needs a transfusion so let's shoot it full of wine
Fishin' for a good time starts with throwin' in your line.
Here amidst the shuffle of an overflowing day
Our love needs a transfusion so let's shoot it full of wine
Fishin' for a good time starts with throwin' in your line.
Apr 3, 2012
Hobo Beach
So what's the plural form of hobo? Hobos or hoboes? Eh, for the purposes of this story I'm gonna go with hobos.
So we are out visiting my family yesterday. Some paperwork for my mother, a little Sunday dinner...you know the drill. I'm in the dining room doing her taxes while the rest of the family is in the living room chatting about whatever. I'm doing my best to block it all out and finish up so we can have dinner.
That's when I hear my mother say that the public beach down the street from her house has become dangerous because of "hobos living there at night." Hobos. She used the word hobos. Probably to refer to the maybe one homeless person who has actually spent a night or two down there. The cops are by all the time, so I doubt they can take up permanent residence there.
I was just jazzed at the thought of hobos living on the beach, though. Railroad-riding, eating beans out of a can, red bandana tied to the end of a stick to carry their valuables, grilling hot dogs over a fire, real-live hobos!
I'm sure I'll refer to that little beach as Hobo Beach in the foreseeable future.
So we are out visiting my family yesterday. Some paperwork for my mother, a little Sunday dinner...you know the drill. I'm in the dining room doing her taxes while the rest of the family is in the living room chatting about whatever. I'm doing my best to block it all out and finish up so we can have dinner.
That's when I hear my mother say that the public beach down the street from her house has become dangerous because of "hobos living there at night." Hobos. She used the word hobos. Probably to refer to the maybe one homeless person who has actually spent a night or two down there. The cops are by all the time, so I doubt they can take up permanent residence there.
I was just jazzed at the thought of hobos living on the beach, though. Railroad-riding, eating beans out of a can, red bandana tied to the end of a stick to carry their valuables, grilling hot dogs over a fire, real-live hobos!
I'm sure I'll refer to that little beach as Hobo Beach in the foreseeable future.
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| image credit |
Apr 2, 2012
No Crying in Baseball: Draft Re-cap
Note: Every Monday, I'll be posting some notes about the new fantasy baseball league called No Crying in Baseball that I'm hosting. Feel free to read and comment, but it's mostly for the members of that league. And this goes against the Golden Rule of fantasy sports which states "No One Cares About Your Fantasy Team", but I don't give a crap. So read on, or don't...I'm jake either way.
The NCIB fantasy league had our first draft this past weekend, and it was hella fun. 25 rounds of action in just a little over an hour. It almost went too fast for my liking. I barely had time to think about my next picks. In my other league, a head-to-head fantasy point auction league, our auction took over 4 hours. And a bunch of players on each team were protected from previous years. Something comfortably in between would be ideal.
All I know is that the plan I had going into the draft went out the window by the 3rd round. I blame that squarely on the manager of The Gotlanders, who was loading up on starting pitching at an alarming rate. I had planned to wait until the 10th round or so before picking up any starting pitching. This is a FIP-based league, after all. And a lot of value can be found in the later rounds for pitchers who might be elite with some better luck or defense behind them. But I panicked and grabbed Zack Greinke in the 3rd round. Then went with more pitching in the 7th-11th rounds. So yeah...that plan didn't pan out. The Gotlanders, by the way, have the sickest starting pitching in the league. And an offense that could be among the the best in the league if several of his picks work out the way he thinks they will.
The manager of Otis Day & The Knights did stick to that plan though. To the extreme. Drafted all offense and relief pitchers until the 22nd round. Not knowing that you need 6 starting pitchers on your squad probably had a lot to do with that, however. He still wound up with some really good starting pitching and picked up a few more after the draft via free agency. That's the idea with this plan. Load up on offense and scavenge for pitching. It can really work if you stay diligent. And a team built around an offense with Troy Tulowitzki and Justin Upton is pretty daunting.
Two managers, Sea Goats and Shagging Flys, didn't even make it to the draft. And, frankly, they wound up with really good teams each. Maybe that was the way to go. Kinda disconcerting, seeing two teams that are probably better than my own that were picked by a computer. That's the way it goes sometimes. The Sea Goats wound up with the incredible Albert Pujols and an outfield of Curtis Granderson, Carlos Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz. All players I coveted. Same with Shagging Flys and Miggy Cabrera, although his outfield is littered with the often-injured Josh Hamilton, Carl Crawford and BJ Upton. A starting rotation of Dan Haren and Cole Hamels helps offet that extremely well.
There were two fantasy newbies who participated in the draft as well. The managers of Phoo Phighters and The Blue Labels. Both did very well, in my opinion. Barring a couple of admitted mistakes from the manager of the Phoo. Hehehehe. She had some fun drafting a bunch of palyers from her hometown Cincinnati Reds, and it worked out well for her. Having the likes of Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips on your team is never a bad thing. The Blue Labels went strong with offense and some terrific FIP-inspired picks in pitching. And maybe the best bench, therefore the most flexible team, in the league. Well done to the two noobs.
The two teams at each turn in the draft, Mudville 9 at the #1 spot and Kill Moose&Squirrel at #11, put together some fearsomely awesome teams with their draft strategies. The Mudville 9 made the suprising choice, to some, of selecting Dustin Pedroia with the 1st overall pick. Wasn't surprising to me. I was planning on taking him in the first round as well. Second base, after the first couple of guys, was the shallowest position in the draft. Had he waited, he would have missed out on the big 3 of Pedroia, Cano and Kinsler. Kill Moose&Squirrel really did his homework. Constantly screwing myself and others out of some excellent choices that I thought would have lasted longer. Damn you, Boris Badenov!!!
The Miracles and Je Je Je Jeetah rounded out the 11-team league, both doing very, very well. The Miracles went with wOBA All-Stars like Ryan Braun and Mike Napoli on offense, a strong relief corp and underrated and strong starting pitchers like Jered Weaver and Yovani Gallardo. Je Je Je Jeetah picked just enough Yankees for the huge Yankees fan that he is. While building a formidable team around Jose Bautista on offense and Justin Verlander and Tim Lincecum for pitching.
________________________________________________________________
The NCIB fantasy league had our first draft this past weekend, and it was hella fun. 25 rounds of action in just a little over an hour. It almost went too fast for my liking. I barely had time to think about my next picks. In my other league, a head-to-head fantasy point auction league, our auction took over 4 hours. And a bunch of players on each team were protected from previous years. Something comfortably in between would be ideal.
All I know is that the plan I had going into the draft went out the window by the 3rd round. I blame that squarely on the manager of The Gotlanders, who was loading up on starting pitching at an alarming rate. I had planned to wait until the 10th round or so before picking up any starting pitching. This is a FIP-based league, after all. And a lot of value can be found in the later rounds for pitchers who might be elite with some better luck or defense behind them. But I panicked and grabbed Zack Greinke in the 3rd round. Then went with more pitching in the 7th-11th rounds. So yeah...that plan didn't pan out. The Gotlanders, by the way, have the sickest starting pitching in the league. And an offense that could be among the the best in the league if several of his picks work out the way he thinks they will.
The manager of Otis Day & The Knights did stick to that plan though. To the extreme. Drafted all offense and relief pitchers until the 22nd round. Not knowing that you need 6 starting pitchers on your squad probably had a lot to do with that, however. He still wound up with some really good starting pitching and picked up a few more after the draft via free agency. That's the idea with this plan. Load up on offense and scavenge for pitching. It can really work if you stay diligent. And a team built around an offense with Troy Tulowitzki and Justin Upton is pretty daunting.
Two managers, Sea Goats and Shagging Flys, didn't even make it to the draft. And, frankly, they wound up with really good teams each. Maybe that was the way to go. Kinda disconcerting, seeing two teams that are probably better than my own that were picked by a computer. That's the way it goes sometimes. The Sea Goats wound up with the incredible Albert Pujols and an outfield of Curtis Granderson, Carlos Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz. All players I coveted. Same with Shagging Flys and Miggy Cabrera, although his outfield is littered with the often-injured Josh Hamilton, Carl Crawford and BJ Upton. A starting rotation of Dan Haren and Cole Hamels helps offet that extremely well.
There were two fantasy newbies who participated in the draft as well. The managers of Phoo Phighters and The Blue Labels. Both did very well, in my opinion. Barring a couple of admitted mistakes from the manager of the Phoo. Hehehehe. She had some fun drafting a bunch of palyers from her hometown Cincinnati Reds, and it worked out well for her. Having the likes of Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips on your team is never a bad thing. The Blue Labels went strong with offense and some terrific FIP-inspired picks in pitching. And maybe the best bench, therefore the most flexible team, in the league. Well done to the two noobs.
The two teams at each turn in the draft, Mudville 9 at the #1 spot and Kill Moose&Squirrel at #11, put together some fearsomely awesome teams with their draft strategies. The Mudville 9 made the suprising choice, to some, of selecting Dustin Pedroia with the 1st overall pick. Wasn't surprising to me. I was planning on taking him in the first round as well. Second base, after the first couple of guys, was the shallowest position in the draft. Had he waited, he would have missed out on the big 3 of Pedroia, Cano and Kinsler. Kill Moose&Squirrel really did his homework. Constantly screwing myself and others out of some excellent choices that I thought would have lasted longer. Damn you, Boris Badenov!!!
The Miracles and Je Je Je Jeetah rounded out the 11-team league, both doing very, very well. The Miracles went with wOBA All-Stars like Ryan Braun and Mike Napoli on offense, a strong relief corp and underrated and strong starting pitchers like Jered Weaver and Yovani Gallardo. Je Je Je Jeetah picked just enough Yankees for the huge Yankees fan that he is. While building a formidable team around Jose Bautista on offense and Justin Verlander and Tim Lincecum for pitching.
Mar 29, 2012
Living in the Past
See what I did there?
No...ugh, I guess a blog title joke referencing my entry from two days ago will get me that kind of reaction. Believe me, it was fucking hilarious!
A family member has been in New Orleans all week, taunting me with texts of pictures of delicious food. It's my own fault. I was the one who suggested all the spots to go eat. Still made me wish I was back in New Orleans. And I haven't been back since before Katrina wrecked the joint. I really need to go back to see what they've done with the place. I can imagine liking it anymore than my last visit.
Key West is another place that I haven't been back to in a long while. Gonna remedy that soon, but Dave's trip there last week really made me want to be there NOW! Like I said...gonna remedy that soon.
In the meantime, let's go living in the past with a link to an old post from Slyde's blog back before I had a blog of my own.
Beware, it's...TALES OF THE BLACK SOCK!!!
(Go check that shit out, okay?)
No...ugh, I guess a blog title joke referencing my entry from two days ago will get me that kind of reaction. Believe me, it was fucking hilarious!
A family member has been in New Orleans all week, taunting me with texts of pictures of delicious food. It's my own fault. I was the one who suggested all the spots to go eat. Still made me wish I was back in New Orleans. And I haven't been back since before Katrina wrecked the joint. I really need to go back to see what they've done with the place. I can imagine liking it anymore than my last visit.
Key West is another place that I haven't been back to in a long while. Gonna remedy that soon, but Dave's trip there last week really made me want to be there NOW! Like I said...gonna remedy that soon.
In the meantime, let's go living in the past with a link to an old post from Slyde's blog back before I had a blog of my own.
Beware, it's...TALES OF THE BLACK SOCK!!!
(Go check that shit out, okay?)
Mar 27, 2012
Living in the Future
"I'll tell you how I know. I read it in the papers...15 years ago. We're all driving rocket ships, and talking with our minds. And wearing turquoise jewelery, and standing in soup lines. We are standing in soup lines." - John Prine
I was gonna embed a video here. Of old John Prine singing his folksy tune about living in the future. But there ain't no video nowheres that I can find of him and that tune. A bunch of covers by a bunch of wannabes, but no originals anywhere. Gahbless ya, internets.
Even though Prine's words are dripping with sarcasm and social commentary, it's still a thought that dances through my reptilian brain every so often. We are living in the future, and everything sucks. Just like Louis CK said, in a much funnier way on the Conan show once.
Our local, hated cable company has been recently expanding their WiFi network by adding to the number of hotspots they offer throughout the territory. I've only noticed it because I recently upgraded to an android phone. And I keep it enabled for WiFi since I mostly work from home, and we have fast WiFi here. I was somewhere or another a few weeks ago, and I saw that there was WiFi available through one of their hotspots. Cool. I registered, meaning that it would automatically switch to one of these hotspots in the future automatically if one was available. Excellent.
Except their WiFi network kinda sucks right now. Yeah, the coverage is expanding all the time. But it's kinda slow. Maybe faster than surfing the web on 3G, but still slower than I'm used to.
So yeah, I sit there and complain while I'm trying to read about a Spring Training baseball game because the page takes an extra second or three to load.
And then I look around, and see everyone around me with their heads down. Peering into their tablet or smartphone or what-not. No one is talking. No one is making eye contact or looking at the scenery. And I've become one of them.
We are living in the future. Yeah...
I was gonna embed a video here. Of old John Prine singing his folksy tune about living in the future. But there ain't no video nowheres that I can find of him and that tune. A bunch of covers by a bunch of wannabes, but no originals anywhere. Gahbless ya, internets.
Even though Prine's words are dripping with sarcasm and social commentary, it's still a thought that dances through my reptilian brain every so often. We are living in the future, and everything sucks. Just like Louis CK said, in a much funnier way on the Conan show once.
Our local, hated cable company has been recently expanding their WiFi network by adding to the number of hotspots they offer throughout the territory. I've only noticed it because I recently upgraded to an android phone. And I keep it enabled for WiFi since I mostly work from home, and we have fast WiFi here. I was somewhere or another a few weeks ago, and I saw that there was WiFi available through one of their hotspots. Cool. I registered, meaning that it would automatically switch to one of these hotspots in the future automatically if one was available. Excellent.
Except their WiFi network kinda sucks right now. Yeah, the coverage is expanding all the time. But it's kinda slow. Maybe faster than surfing the web on 3G, but still slower than I'm used to.
So yeah, I sit there and complain while I'm trying to read about a Spring Training baseball game because the page takes an extra second or three to load.
And then I look around, and see everyone around me with their heads down. Peering into their tablet or smartphone or what-not. No one is talking. No one is making eye contact or looking at the scenery. And I've become one of them.
We are living in the future. Yeah...
Mar 23, 2012
Mar 22, 2012
The old standby
Cat pictures!
We are thinking that the last one needs to be on the front of a greeting card or something.
Question: How can we make money off of these fuckers?
 |
| The King, Wolowitz...sleeping on his throne. |
 |
| His sister Gogo...she's only still when she sleeps. |
 |
| Bootsy sleeping on my work desk. He's large... |
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| Bennington doing what he do. All cute and shit. |
We are thinking that the last one needs to be on the front of a greeting card or something.
Question: How can we make money off of these fuckers?
Mar 20, 2012
Food porn!
Nothing to see here, but head over to Simmer, Sip, Share for some titillating food porn as I review a local restaurant called Mara's Homemade that serves New Orleans-style grub and Arkansas BBQ.
The food made my pants tight. For several reasons.
The food made my pants tight. For several reasons.
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| Click on the picture for the review |
Mar 19, 2012
Express Stress
I've got a silly little pet peeve that struck a nerve a couple of times in the past few days. So allow me to go off on a rant.
I do most of the food shopping in the house. Mostly because I do most of the cooking, and I shop for what I need. I'm not good at planning ahead, so I wind up hitting the supermarket 3-4 times in a given week. Sometimes only to pick up 6 or 7 items. It's not time or cost effective, but it's just the way that I'm built. Not much I can do about it. Besides, sometimes I get in the mood for a certain meal on a whim. Hard to plan around whims.
So this particular pet peeve has to do with the Express Checkout lane at the market. We have automated checkout lanes and regular lanes with human checkout clerks. Both have Express Checkout lanes. You know, the type with a big sign that says "12 Items or Less" hovering someplace in plain fucking sight. And I have an awful habit of counting how many items the person in front of me has. 7 items? You're good! 15 items? Wait a minute, pal...get in the correct lane!
But, generally, as long as the person in front of me is quick and gets through their checkout without any problems I'm fine.
It's the 99.99% of the time when the person is an absolute fucking idiot that I lose my fucking mind!
Take my last two trips to the market as examples. The first trip I was picking up a few items to make some baked potato soup with green onions, cheddar and bacon. Mostly I needed the green onions, cheddar and bacon. I was set on everything else. Hehehe. So I grabbed my items and headed to the automated checkout counter. The dude in front of me looked like a good dude. Interesting facial hair, NY Yankee baseball cap...he seemed alright. Until I wound up hating him.
He was purchasing some stuff for a party. Greeting cards, wrapping paper, gift bags, flowers, a balloon...those kind of things. I immediately noticed he had around 16 items, so some mild warning bells starting ringing in my brain. Then he proceeded to demonstrate no knowledge of ever having used an automated checkout counter before. EVER! He needed management assistance for no fewer than 5 items in his cart. Including the balloon, which threatened to escape to the ceiling. Also, he had no idea how to proceed after scanning the balloon because he couldn't place it on the conveyor belt for the sensor to recognize it.
It. Was. A. Nightmare!!! And it took forever.
Yet, I found myself at the same market at the same automated "Express" lane the very next day. This time I was pleased to find a guy with only 7-8 items in his basket. This made me optimistic. But then that optimism turned to despair in mere moments. He also had never used one of these machines before, apparently. And all the items in his bag were of the fresh produce variety. So he had to look each one up individually. At an average of 2-3 minutes an item. This was worse than the previous experience. But not by very much. Both sucked.
See...it's not that I really mind the extra items or the occasional need for assistance from a manager. I've been there, had an extra item and needed that assistance. Not to this level, however. And it goes against the very nature of what this lane is all about. EXPRESS SERVICE!!! The lanes exist to facilitate a quick checkout, get it? And there are no apologies ever. It's like this is their world and I'm just living in it.
That's actually the basis of the pet peeve. People with no regard for anyone else. Whether they fail to signal when driving or slow an express lane to an absolute halt. I just hate those people.
Because you know they would be the first one to complain if, God forbid, THEY were ever inconvenienced.
/rant
I do most of the food shopping in the house. Mostly because I do most of the cooking, and I shop for what I need. I'm not good at planning ahead, so I wind up hitting the supermarket 3-4 times in a given week. Sometimes only to pick up 6 or 7 items. It's not time or cost effective, but it's just the way that I'm built. Not much I can do about it. Besides, sometimes I get in the mood for a certain meal on a whim. Hard to plan around whims.
So this particular pet peeve has to do with the Express Checkout lane at the market. We have automated checkout lanes and regular lanes with human checkout clerks. Both have Express Checkout lanes. You know, the type with a big sign that says "12 Items or Less" hovering someplace in plain fucking sight. And I have an awful habit of counting how many items the person in front of me has. 7 items? You're good! 15 items? Wait a minute, pal...get in the correct lane!
But, generally, as long as the person in front of me is quick and gets through their checkout without any problems I'm fine.
It's the 99.99% of the time when the person is an absolute fucking idiot that I lose my fucking mind!
Take my last two trips to the market as examples. The first trip I was picking up a few items to make some baked potato soup with green onions, cheddar and bacon. Mostly I needed the green onions, cheddar and bacon. I was set on everything else. Hehehe. So I grabbed my items and headed to the automated checkout counter. The dude in front of me looked like a good dude. Interesting facial hair, NY Yankee baseball cap...he seemed alright. Until I wound up hating him.
He was purchasing some stuff for a party. Greeting cards, wrapping paper, gift bags, flowers, a balloon...those kind of things. I immediately noticed he had around 16 items, so some mild warning bells starting ringing in my brain. Then he proceeded to demonstrate no knowledge of ever having used an automated checkout counter before. EVER! He needed management assistance for no fewer than 5 items in his cart. Including the balloon, which threatened to escape to the ceiling. Also, he had no idea how to proceed after scanning the balloon because he couldn't place it on the conveyor belt for the sensor to recognize it.
It. Was. A. Nightmare!!! And it took forever.
Yet, I found myself at the same market at the same automated "Express" lane the very next day. This time I was pleased to find a guy with only 7-8 items in his basket. This made me optimistic. But then that optimism turned to despair in mere moments. He also had never used one of these machines before, apparently. And all the items in his bag were of the fresh produce variety. So he had to look each one up individually. At an average of 2-3 minutes an item. This was worse than the previous experience. But not by very much. Both sucked.
See...it's not that I really mind the extra items or the occasional need for assistance from a manager. I've been there, had an extra item and needed that assistance. Not to this level, however. And it goes against the very nature of what this lane is all about. EXPRESS SERVICE!!! The lanes exist to facilitate a quick checkout, get it? And there are no apologies ever. It's like this is their world and I'm just living in it.
That's actually the basis of the pet peeve. People with no regard for anyone else. Whether they fail to signal when driving or slow an express lane to an absolute halt. I just hate those people.
Because you know they would be the first one to complain if, God forbid, THEY were ever inconvenienced.
/rant
Mar 15, 2012
The Walking Dead - SPOILERS
This post has some pretty serious spoilers for the current season of The Walking Dead. I'm gonna get all up in that shit, so if you haven't watched it yet you may want to skip the rest of this post. You have been warned.
Read more after the jump...
OK, are we alone now? I love you. Wait..what? Sorry about that. Lost my mind for a second there.
So yeah...The Walking Dead. We've been absolutely loving this half-season. While the first half of the season was one long drawn-out search for a dead girl, the action has ratcheted up a notch as we zombie shuffle toward this Sunday's season finale. We've got shootouts and zombies and in-fighting and more zombies and the breakup of a formerly grand bro-mance. It's been a whole shambling heap of zombie fun.
And the creators of the show haven't been shy about killing off some of the main characters this year. I would suggest that they have killed off the wrong main characters, but at least they are recognizing that the show takes place in a zombie apocalypse. People die in a zombie apocalypse. That's one of the rules. Next to head-shots, it's pretty much the top rule.
Like I said, we've been really enjoying the show.
That's not to say that there have been some problems with it. Take Carl, for instance. I couldn't have been the only one out there, but I literally yelled out "WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING OUT THERE?" during the last five minutes of the past show. I felt like Brodie yelling at that kid on the escalator in Mallrats. If you saw it, you know what I mean. It's night-time in Zombieland, there's a missing prisoner, shots have been fired...and he is fucking wandering around? In in a fucking field! What the hell is up with that? Remember when I said the wrong people have been dying? Yup...he's one of the ones who should have bit it by now. Him and his stupid fucking hat!
I'm not the only one to feel that way about Carl. The Internets are buzzing with the same thoughts. Best portrayed here by graphic artist Peter Chiykowski on his Rock, Paper, Cynic site:
There are other problems with other characters, for sure. T-Dog has literally had two lines of dialogue in the past 6 weeks. And those were in this past episode. I'm pretty sure one of them was "Welcome ta Earf!"* Andrea should just sit back and kick ass and stop judging people. Her judgy-face is making me long for the day when a zombie finally bites it off! And Lori...ugh, don't get me started on Lori. If I had my druthers, and I really miss my druthers, her head would be on the chopping block in the season finale. And my druthers are blood-thirsty, so I would want it to be a gruesome death. Maybe she could choke on that ham sandwich that she is seriously in need of. Fucking skinny bitch! And she's supposed to be pregnant? Iggy Pop is curvier. Ugh.
I just can't wait for them to get off of this farm and out into the big, scary zombie world. Hopefully that's what happens after this zombie herd runs rough-shod over the farm next week. And maybe Carl will leave the house one time too many.
::fingers crossed::
*That's racism, man! I love to racism, bro!
 |
| Darryl, the redneck ninja. Photo credit |
Read more after the jump...
OK, are we alone now? I love you. Wait..what? Sorry about that. Lost my mind for a second there.
So yeah...The Walking Dead. We've been absolutely loving this half-season. While the first half of the season was one long drawn-out search for a dead girl, the action has ratcheted up a notch as we zombie shuffle toward this Sunday's season finale. We've got shootouts and zombies and in-fighting and more zombies and the breakup of a formerly grand bro-mance. It's been a whole shambling heap of zombie fun.
And the creators of the show haven't been shy about killing off some of the main characters this year. I would suggest that they have killed off the wrong main characters, but at least they are recognizing that the show takes place in a zombie apocalypse. People die in a zombie apocalypse. That's one of the rules. Next to head-shots, it's pretty much the top rule.
Like I said, we've been really enjoying the show.
That's not to say that there have been some problems with it. Take Carl, for instance. I couldn't have been the only one out there, but I literally yelled out "WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING OUT THERE?" during the last five minutes of the past show. I felt like Brodie yelling at that kid on the escalator in Mallrats. If you saw it, you know what I mean. It's night-time in Zombieland, there's a missing prisoner, shots have been fired...and he is fucking wandering around? In in a fucking field! What the hell is up with that? Remember when I said the wrong people have been dying? Yup...he's one of the ones who should have bit it by now. Him and his stupid fucking hat!
I'm not the only one to feel that way about Carl. The Internets are buzzing with the same thoughts. Best portrayed here by graphic artist Peter Chiykowski on his Rock, Paper, Cynic site:
There are other problems with other characters, for sure. T-Dog has literally had two lines of dialogue in the past 6 weeks. And those were in this past episode. I'm pretty sure one of them was "Welcome ta Earf!"* Andrea should just sit back and kick ass and stop judging people. Her judgy-face is making me long for the day when a zombie finally bites it off! And Lori...ugh, don't get me started on Lori. If I had my druthers, and I really miss my druthers, her head would be on the chopping block in the season finale. And my druthers are blood-thirsty, so I would want it to be a gruesome death. Maybe she could choke on that ham sandwich that she is seriously in need of. Fucking skinny bitch! And she's supposed to be pregnant? Iggy Pop is curvier. Ugh.
I just can't wait for them to get off of this farm and out into the big, scary zombie world. Hopefully that's what happens after this zombie herd runs rough-shod over the farm next week. And maybe Carl will leave the house one time too many.
::fingers crossed::
*That's racism, man! I love to racism, bro!
Mar 13, 2012
Infinitely Cool
Saw this on The Interrobang yesterday.
It's an interactive Scale of the Universe. That is all
Ready to feel...smaller?
It's an interactive Scale of the Universe. That is all
Ready to feel...smaller?
 |
| This isn't the interactive scale. Just a "picture" of the Universe. Is all. |
Mar 12, 2012
No Crying in Baseball
Note: This is gonna be about fantasy baseball. If you aren't a baseball geek or a math geek or a stats geek, then you will probably want to move right along. You have been forewarned.
A few weeks ago, I floated the idea of a fantasy baseball league here on The Verdant Dude. I didn't get much positive feedback from the blog-gang, so I then had the bright idea to to re-float the league on our weekly radio show. And an inspiration was born.
Instead of doing your basic 5X5 Roto league or using the standard fantasy point system, I thought we should come up with something that reflects our current interest in advanced baseball statistics. Sabermetrics, if you prefer. The idea behind the league is to come as close as possible to replicating the results of two of my favorite advanced statistics, wOBA and FIP. Why wOBA and FIP? Because they are the two main components used for WAR (Wins Above Replacement), which is a value-driven stat on sites like Fangraphs or Baseball-Reference. What are they? Well...
wOBA
wOBA stands for Weighted On-Base Average. It was originally invented by uber-sabermetician Tom Tango*, and it attempts to measure a hitter's overall value by placing weights on each specific offensive event. Basically, the idea behind it is that doubles are worth more than singles, triples are worth more than doubles and home runs are worth more than triples. Seems obvious, but it's something that is totally missing in both Batting Average and regular old On-Base Percentage. The weights change each year slightly based upon league averages, but for 2011 the formula for wOBA that FanGraphs uses is:
So a single is worth slightly more than an unintentional walk or a hit-by-pitch, and then you see the weights for doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases. Everything is then divided by plate appearances and you get an average that has a relation to the old OBP. A player with a .400 wOBA is a top-tier guy. .370 is great, .340 is above-average, .320 is average, .300 is poor, etc...
The challenge became translating that formula into a point structure. I think I've accomplished that by assigning positive point values to BB, HBP, H, 2B, 3B, HR and SB. Then negative point values are assigned for AB (to represent outs created) and CS. The results pretty closely mirror the wOBA leader-board from last year. I'm still in the process of tweaking it, and I have a friend helping out. But I think it's pretty close.
FIP
FIP stands for Fielding Independent Pitching. It measures what a pitcher's ERA should look like over a given period of time assuming performance on balls in play and timing were league average. The idea is that balls in play (calculated as Batting Average on Balls in Play, or BABIP) can swing wildly from one season to another for a given pitcher, and it might not be the fault of the pitcher at all. Luck and the fielders playing behind him are big reasons for the fluctuations. So we should try to measure a pitcher's effectiveness by measuring what they can control. And those things are walks, strikeouts and home runs. Mostly. Here's the 2011 formula for FIP on Fangraphs:
So pitchers are penalized, heavily, by the home runs they give up and walks (netted of intentional walks) and how often they hit batters. Then they are given credit for strikeouts and the innings that they pitch (or the outs they get). The constant at the end changes yearly, and it's for bringing the formula into a more recognizable ERA form. This one was a little more difficult to translate into a point structure for a league, but I think I came close. You'll notice that there are no points awarded for Wins, Losses or Earned Runs. Those are "team" statistics that are often over-valued in the traditional world of baseball statistics. So we are going to ignore them in this league. I am going to throw a bone to closers by awarding points for Saves, but I'm not happy about it. Saves, as a statistic, suck. But a concession must be made, so...
So it's going to be a bit more complex, and hopefully rewarding, than your traditional fantasy baseball league. If the three of you (RW, Paticus and Sybil Law) who were initially interested in joining the league are still interested, I will follow up with you via email. If this scared you off, well...I understand. There are going to be a handful of stat geeks in the league, if the folks who download our radio show is any indication. So it should be competitive. I still want it to be a free league, with maybe a prize of some apple pie moonshine for the winner, but we will discuss that as well.
So exciting!!! More to follow...
*Tom Tango is actually a pseudonym for either a single man or several baseball analysts. Not really sure about that. His site is really interesting, though. You should check it out.
___________________________________________________________
Instead of doing your basic 5X5 Roto league or using the standard fantasy point system, I thought we should come up with something that reflects our current interest in advanced baseball statistics. Sabermetrics, if you prefer. The idea behind the league is to come as close as possible to replicating the results of two of my favorite advanced statistics, wOBA and FIP. Why wOBA and FIP? Because they are the two main components used for WAR (Wins Above Replacement), which is a value-driven stat on sites like Fangraphs or Baseball-Reference. What are they? Well...
wOBA
wOBA stands for Weighted On-Base Average. It was originally invented by uber-sabermetician Tom Tango*, and it attempts to measure a hitter's overall value by placing weights on each specific offensive event. Basically, the idea behind it is that doubles are worth more than singles, triples are worth more than doubles and home runs are worth more than triples. Seems obvious, but it's something that is totally missing in both Batting Average and regular old On-Base Percentage. The weights change each year slightly based upon league averages, but for 2011 the formula for wOBA that FanGraphs uses is:
wOBA = (0.69×uBB + 0.72×HBP + 0.89×1B + 1.26×2B + 1.60×3B +
2.08×HR + 0.25×SB -0.50×CS) / PA
2.08×HR + 0.25×SB -0.50×CS) / PA
So a single is worth slightly more than an unintentional walk or a hit-by-pitch, and then you see the weights for doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases. Everything is then divided by plate appearances and you get an average that has a relation to the old OBP. A player with a .400 wOBA is a top-tier guy. .370 is great, .340 is above-average, .320 is average, .300 is poor, etc...
The challenge became translating that formula into a point structure. I think I've accomplished that by assigning positive point values to BB, HBP, H, 2B, 3B, HR and SB. Then negative point values are assigned for AB (to represent outs created) and CS. The results pretty closely mirror the wOBA leader-board from last year. I'm still in the process of tweaking it, and I have a friend helping out. But I think it's pretty close.
FIP
FIP stands for Fielding Independent Pitching. It measures what a pitcher's ERA should look like over a given period of time assuming performance on balls in play and timing were league average. The idea is that balls in play (calculated as Batting Average on Balls in Play, or BABIP) can swing wildly from one season to another for a given pitcher, and it might not be the fault of the pitcher at all. Luck and the fielders playing behind him are big reasons for the fluctuations. So we should try to measure a pitcher's effectiveness by measuring what they can control. And those things are walks, strikeouts and home runs. Mostly. Here's the 2011 formula for FIP on Fangraphs:
FIP = ((13*HR)+(3*(BB+HBP-IBB))-(2*K))/IP + constant
So pitchers are penalized, heavily, by the home runs they give up and walks (netted of intentional walks) and how often they hit batters. Then they are given credit for strikeouts and the innings that they pitch (or the outs they get). The constant at the end changes yearly, and it's for bringing the formula into a more recognizable ERA form. This one was a little more difficult to translate into a point structure for a league, but I think I came close. You'll notice that there are no points awarded for Wins, Losses or Earned Runs. Those are "team" statistics that are often over-valued in the traditional world of baseball statistics. So we are going to ignore them in this league. I am going to throw a bone to closers by awarding points for Saves, but I'm not happy about it. Saves, as a statistic, suck. But a concession must be made, so...
So it's going to be a bit more complex, and hopefully rewarding, than your traditional fantasy baseball league. If the three of you (RW, Paticus and Sybil Law) who were initially interested in joining the league are still interested, I will follow up with you via email. If this scared you off, well...I understand. There are going to be a handful of stat geeks in the league, if the folks who download our radio show is any indication. So it should be competitive. I still want it to be a free league, with maybe a prize of some apple pie moonshine for the winner, but we will discuss that as well.
So exciting!!! More to follow...
*Tom Tango is actually a pseudonym for either a single man or several baseball analysts. Not really sure about that. His site is really interesting, though. You should check it out.
Mar 9, 2012
Humanoids from the Deep (1980)
Netflix has been adding some interesting titles to their stable of Instant choices. Well, interesting to me. More importantly, interesting to the inner-child that still lives within me. An inner-child that is constantly feeding on me, like a conjoined parasitic twin. Eww.
What does all this have to do with Humanoids from the Deep? Well, because Humanoids from the Deep was basically a perfect movie for a young 13 year-old Earl. It was loaded with the three things that I valued over everything else at that age.
1. Monsters.
2. Bad acting/special effects/makeup/etc...
3. Female full frontal nudity.
That last one was particularly important. Ahem.
And as an added bonus, it made good use of the word "humanoid". A word that I'm particularly fond of. A humanoid is "something that has an appearance resembling a human being", according to the Wiki Gods. And it's a term that has fallen out of favor with the scientific community in the 21st century. Fuck those guys! I say we should bring back humanoid in a big way. Maybe "Talk Like a Humanoid Day" or something. I'm still working on my plan. Where was I?
Oh yeah, Humanoids from the Deep. So there is this sleepy little drinking village with a fishing problem named Noyo in Northern California. Seems that most of the population of the town make their money off of the salmon industry. They pronounce it 'SAL-mon', although I don't know anyone who really says it that way. Then again, I don't live anywhere near the Pacific Northwest. They also seem to have some issue with the local Native American population who also depend on the SAL-mon runs for their livelihood. But the Native Americans, of course, also care about the environment. Something that a local cannery company, brilliantly called CanCo, could give two hoots about. They want production and they want it fast. By any nefarious means possible.
But something is going on in the waters off of Noyo. Something...dum dum duh....sinister! People are dying or going missing. Dogs are being ripped apart. Seaweed is being filmed by underwater cameras. OK, that last one isn't very sinister. Except that there are creepy claws moving the seaweed aside. A claw that may or may not belong to a humanoid of some sort. Most excellent.
A local scientist has arrived in town from CanCo to investigate what is happening in the water. She seems helpful and concerned, but she also seems to know a lot more about what is going on than she is offering up. But as the attacks begin to ramp up, she if finally forced to fess up about the humanoids.
Seems that CanCo had been experimenting with genetically modifying the local SAL-mon population by using the ominous-sounding DNA-5 treatment. DNA-5 is a super growth hormone, apparently. It doesn't really make the SAL-mon any bigger, but it accelerates the aging process. So baby SAL-mon become adult SAL-mon in a matter of days or weeks instead of however long it usually takes. Then a batch of the SAL-mon escape the hatchery into the wild. No big deal, right? Wrong. Seems an existing prehistoric fish called the coelacanth is also living in those waters. And they love to eat them some SAL-mon. And adding the genetically-enhanced fish to the diet has mutated them. Forcing them through several evolutionary changes all in a short period of time. Into...humanoids!
That, my friends, is the kind of science that you CANNOT argue with.
Oh, and one more thing about these humanoids. They are horny as fuck. Seems that they need, I mean NEED, to procreate with human females to further advance their evolutionary agenda. They decide the best way to do that is to get all rape-y with the town's lovely young ladies. And I do mean lovely. This brings about the full frontal nudity I mentioned earlier. The film caught some slack for the graphic, violent and sexual nature of some of the scenes. Women's groups were especially upset with the film's director. A woman who they thought should have known better. Not really fair of them because most of those scenes were added after she had been fired by B-movie legend Roger Corman. To all that, my 13-year old inner-child says "whatever, dudes!" But that kid is a dick, so take it with a grain of salt. I will say that it's only a movie and a pretty poor one to boot. Exploitation flicks need lovin' too. Ahem.
All of this leads to one of the most ridiculous climaxes in motion picture history when the humanoids invade the town in force during the annual SAL-mon festival. They kill and rape with stunning aplomb. Especially considering the slow-moving, shambling wrecks that they are. Let's just say that being named Miss SAL-mon does not end up well for one young lady.
So is it a good film? C'mon. But is it a good bad film? Absolutely. If you go into it with the right attitude, it can even be a great bad film.
Next up: War of the Gargantuas (1968) - A film actually mentioned by Brad Pitt during the last Oscars telecast. How weird was that?
What does all this have to do with Humanoids from the Deep? Well, because Humanoids from the Deep was basically a perfect movie for a young 13 year-old Earl. It was loaded with the three things that I valued over everything else at that age.
1. Monsters.
2. Bad acting/special effects/makeup/etc...
3. Female full frontal nudity.
That last one was particularly important. Ahem.
And as an added bonus, it made good use of the word "humanoid". A word that I'm particularly fond of. A humanoid is "something that has an appearance resembling a human being", according to the Wiki Gods. And it's a term that has fallen out of favor with the scientific community in the 21st century. Fuck those guys! I say we should bring back humanoid in a big way. Maybe "Talk Like a Humanoid Day" or something. I'm still working on my plan. Where was I?
Oh yeah, Humanoids from the Deep. So there is this sleepy little drinking village with a fishing problem named Noyo in Northern California. Seems that most of the population of the town make their money off of the salmon industry. They pronounce it 'SAL-mon', although I don't know anyone who really says it that way. Then again, I don't live anywhere near the Pacific Northwest. They also seem to have some issue with the local Native American population who also depend on the SAL-mon runs for their livelihood. But the Native Americans, of course, also care about the environment. Something that a local cannery company, brilliantly called CanCo, could give two hoots about. They want production and they want it fast. By any nefarious means possible.
But something is going on in the waters off of Noyo. Something...dum dum duh....sinister! People are dying or going missing. Dogs are being ripped apart. Seaweed is being filmed by underwater cameras. OK, that last one isn't very sinister. Except that there are creepy claws moving the seaweed aside. A claw that may or may not belong to a humanoid of some sort. Most excellent.
A local scientist has arrived in town from CanCo to investigate what is happening in the water. She seems helpful and concerned, but she also seems to know a lot more about what is going on than she is offering up. But as the attacks begin to ramp up, she if finally forced to fess up about the humanoids.
Seems that CanCo had been experimenting with genetically modifying the local SAL-mon population by using the ominous-sounding DNA-5 treatment. DNA-5 is a super growth hormone, apparently. It doesn't really make the SAL-mon any bigger, but it accelerates the aging process. So baby SAL-mon become adult SAL-mon in a matter of days or weeks instead of however long it usually takes. Then a batch of the SAL-mon escape the hatchery into the wild. No big deal, right? Wrong. Seems an existing prehistoric fish called the coelacanth is also living in those waters. And they love to eat them some SAL-mon. And adding the genetically-enhanced fish to the diet has mutated them. Forcing them through several evolutionary changes all in a short period of time. Into...humanoids!
That, my friends, is the kind of science that you CANNOT argue with.
Oh, and one more thing about these humanoids. They are horny as fuck. Seems that they need, I mean NEED, to procreate with human females to further advance their evolutionary agenda. They decide the best way to do that is to get all rape-y with the town's lovely young ladies. And I do mean lovely. This brings about the full frontal nudity I mentioned earlier. The film caught some slack for the graphic, violent and sexual nature of some of the scenes. Women's groups were especially upset with the film's director. A woman who they thought should have known better. Not really fair of them because most of those scenes were added after she had been fired by B-movie legend Roger Corman. To all that, my 13-year old inner-child says "whatever, dudes!" But that kid is a dick, so take it with a grain of salt. I will say that it's only a movie and a pretty poor one to boot. Exploitation flicks need lovin' too. Ahem.
All of this leads to one of the most ridiculous climaxes in motion picture history when the humanoids invade the town in force during the annual SAL-mon festival. They kill and rape with stunning aplomb. Especially considering the slow-moving, shambling wrecks that they are. Let's just say that being named Miss SAL-mon does not end up well for one young lady.
So is it a good film? C'mon. But is it a good bad film? Absolutely. If you go into it with the right attitude, it can even be a great bad film.
Next up: War of the Gargantuas (1968) - A film actually mentioned by Brad Pitt during the last Oscars telecast. How weird was that?
Mar 7, 2012
Brain derp dump
Just a few things that have been on my mind lately. Hopefully if I put the words down here, then I can concentrate on more important things. Like recipes to post on our food blog. Yeah.
- I generally don't wish harm on anyone, but can Pat Robertson just die already? Preferably in a natural disaster of some sort. That's how I enjoy my irony.
- Speaking of public figures that should just die already....maybe the best way to stop Rush Limbaugh is to ignore him. I really don't think it will work, but it's worth a shot!
- Do yourself a favor, do a Google search for Big Ang (short for Angela) and watch a video or two of her if you can stomach it. She's a "character" on the show Mob Wives on one of the cable channels. I should say she's a "cartoon character", because that's exactly what she reminds me of. I hate those reality shows with a passion, but the sheer ridiculousness of Big Ang makes me smile.
- This Sarah Palin bio-pic coming to HBO looks...interesting. I pause because I don't really think it's going to reveal anything that we don't already know. OK, she's not very intelligent or she was totally unprepared for national office. I get it. Julianne Moore sure looks the part though. Wow!
- So some people think Kirk Cameron is still relevant? Hmm...I'd worry about those people. More than what that dude has on his mind anyway. Now you want to see real crazy? Go check out what Victoria Jackson has been doing lately.
- We watched the first 3 episodes of Homeland last night. Holy fucking fucking hell! Great show, tense as all what-not. Highest recommendation if you haven't already seen it. Warning...it ain't for the faint of heart. Or for the fart of taint. Huh?
- Sybil Law is running for President. Finally, some political news that makes sense!
Mar 6, 2012
It's Educational!!!
Had something I really wanted to post about tonight, but I got wrapped up in a conversation on Twitter with Sybil and Marty about the Pixies. Then I forgot what I wanted to post about.
Shit happens. So there's this:
UMass
Shit happens. So there's this:
UMass
The Pixies
In the sleepy west of the woody east
is a valley full, full o' pioneer
we're not just kids, to say the least
we got ideas to us that's dear
like capitalist, like communist
like lots of things you've heard about
and redneckers they get us pissed
and stupid stuff it makes us shout
oh dance with me oh don't be shy
oh kiss me cunt and kiss me cock
oh kiss the world oh kiss the sky
oh kiss my ass oh let it rock
of the april birds and the may-bee
oh baby
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
university
of massachusetts, please
and here's the last five
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational.
is a valley full, full o' pioneer
we're not just kids, to say the least
we got ideas to us that's dear
like capitalist, like communist
like lots of things you've heard about
and redneckers they get us pissed
and stupid stuff it makes us shout
oh dance with me oh don't be shy
oh kiss me cunt and kiss me cock
oh kiss the world oh kiss the sky
oh kiss my ass oh let it rock
of the april birds and the may-bee
oh baby
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
university
of massachusetts, please
and here's the last five
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational
it's educational.
Mar 1, 2012
Browser ABC's
When it comes to computers, I'm still very much a keyboard/shortcut guy than a point and click guy. I've been a high-level MS Excel user since it was invented, and I still start many of my tricks by hitting the old "/" menu key. It's just habit. Ingrained by thousands and thousands of hours of use.
It comes across in my Internet use as well. Sure, I have lots of sites bookmarked. But I find that I tend to just jump to the address bar in Firefox and start typing where I want to go and let my browser history find the site I want more than anything else.
For example, I have this here blog bookmarked. But when I want to go to it quickly, I jump to the address bar in my browser and type "B" and this is the first site that pops up. Easy peasy. And quicker, for me, than finding it in my bookmarks.
So with that in mind, I've come up with a silly meme where you type in a letter in the address box of your browser and mark down the first site that pops up in your browser history. Could be dangerous, could be boring...let's find out!
A - Amazon
B - The Verdant Dude (because the url is beearl.blogspot.com)
C - Citibank
D - Deadspin (a sports/humor blog)
E - Erin O'Brien's blog
F - Filmdrunk (a film/humor blog)
G - Google Reader
H - Huffington Post
I - IMDB
J - Just Talking to the Cornfield
K - Kongregate (a flash game site)
L - The LoHud Yankees Blog
M - Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest
N - Netflix
O - Overstock (haven't shopped there in years!)
P - Pandora
Q - The Interrobang (there's a Q in the subtitle someplace)
R - RW's new website.
S - Slyde...ugh.
T - Twitter
U - Uni-Watch (an interesting site devoted entirely to sports uniforms)
V - Version53 - RW rears his head once again
W - The Weather Channel...how boring.
X - Nothing. Nothing pops up for X. How weird is that? (Actually it was XM Radio...hehehe)
Y - Yahoo!
Z - This time really nothing. Just a bunch of urls that have random a random "z" in them.
OK, so that was pointless and boring. Tells us what we already know. I like baseball and movies.
Anyone got a good Z website I should start visiting?
Hi.
It comes across in my Internet use as well. Sure, I have lots of sites bookmarked. But I find that I tend to just jump to the address bar in Firefox and start typing where I want to go and let my browser history find the site I want more than anything else.
For example, I have this here blog bookmarked. But when I want to go to it quickly, I jump to the address bar in my browser and type "B" and this is the first site that pops up. Easy peasy. And quicker, for me, than finding it in my bookmarks.
So with that in mind, I've come up with a silly meme where you type in a letter in the address box of your browser and mark down the first site that pops up in your browser history. Could be dangerous, could be boring...let's find out!
A - Amazon
B - The Verdant Dude (because the url is beearl.blogspot.com)
C - Citibank
D - Deadspin (a sports/humor blog)
E - Erin O'Brien's blog
F - Filmdrunk (a film/humor blog)
G - Google Reader
H - Huffington Post
I - IMDB
J - Just Talking to the Cornfield
K - Kongregate (a flash game site)
L - The LoHud Yankees Blog
M - Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest
N - Netflix
O - Overstock (haven't shopped there in years!)
P - Pandora
Q - The Interrobang (there's a Q in the subtitle someplace)
R - RW's new website.
S - Slyde...ugh.
T - Twitter
U - Uni-Watch (an interesting site devoted entirely to sports uniforms)
V - Version53 - RW rears his head once again
W - The Weather Channel...how boring.
X - Nothing. Nothing pops up for X. How weird is that? (Actually it was XM Radio...hehehe)
Y - Yahoo!
Z - This time really nothing. Just a bunch of urls that have random a random "z" in them.
OK, so that was pointless and boring. Tells us what we already know. I like baseball and movies.
Anyone got a good Z website I should start visiting?
Hi.
Feb 29, 2012
Memory Fail
I generally have a pretty good memory for the important things. And for the not-so-important things. As in anything to do with the movies. The other night on our radio show, my co-host was shocked when he asked me who was the other actor to play Shoeless Joe Jackson in a film besides Ray Liotta. I replied that it was D.B. Sweeney without a moment's hesitation. That kind of shit, I'm good at.
But sometimes my memory fails me in craptastic ways.
Two recent examples of my that happened just yesterday.
First, I was watching TV late at night and the film Resident Evil: Afterlife (don't judge me!) was just about to start on one of the movie channels. I looked at the brief plot description on the screen, did a mental inventory and decided that I hadn't seen it yet. And for the first five minutes of the film, I was happy as a pig in shit. A pig in shit watching an awful movie, but I was in the mood for an awful movie. So there.
Then the prelude ended and our hero was flying a WWII era Russian fighter plane up to Alaska to meet her friends and I was like "Wait a minute here...". Yup, I had seen this shit. And I remember it was awful. Everything came flooding back at once. The brief scene in Alaska. The prison in LA. The huge axe-wielding mutant zombie. The finale on the ship.
But that first 5 minutes? Nope...none of that was familiar at all. And (since it came out in 2010) I had, most likely, watched this film less than a year ago! Maybe I was watching it while I was futzing around on the Internet late at night while drinking bourbon or something, but I don't remember that first 5 minutes at all. So weird.
Then I sat down to right a post about something I found on Youtube! a while back. I have a sticky note application on my laptop, and one of them is for blog post ideas. I had jotted this one down a long time ago. Maybe as long as a year ago. But I suddenly got jazzed to write about it. So I did.
About a third of the way through the post, I started getting this deja-vu feeling. Did I write about this already? Nah...I would have deleted it off my sticky note. But these words do feel pretty familiar. Hmm...lemme check. And, sure enough, I had written about it before. A little over a year ago. Ur-dur!
So you get this post about that failed process instead.
"You're a handsome devil. What's your name?" - Mary Blank
But sometimes my memory fails me in craptastic ways.
Two recent examples of my that happened just yesterday.
First, I was watching TV late at night and the film Resident Evil: Afterlife (don't judge me!) was just about to start on one of the movie channels. I looked at the brief plot description on the screen, did a mental inventory and decided that I hadn't seen it yet. And for the first five minutes of the film, I was happy as a pig in shit. A pig in shit watching an awful movie, but I was in the mood for an awful movie. So there.
Then the prelude ended and our hero was flying a WWII era Russian fighter plane up to Alaska to meet her friends and I was like "Wait a minute here...". Yup, I had seen this shit. And I remember it was awful. Everything came flooding back at once. The brief scene in Alaska. The prison in LA. The huge axe-wielding mutant zombie. The finale on the ship.
But that first 5 minutes? Nope...none of that was familiar at all. And (since it came out in 2010) I had, most likely, watched this film less than a year ago! Maybe I was watching it while I was futzing around on the Internet late at night while drinking bourbon or something, but I don't remember that first 5 minutes at all. So weird.
Then I sat down to right a post about something I found on Youtube! a while back. I have a sticky note application on my laptop, and one of them is for blog post ideas. I had jotted this one down a long time ago. Maybe as long as a year ago. But I suddenly got jazzed to write about it. So I did.
About a third of the way through the post, I started getting this deja-vu feeling. Did I write about this already? Nah...I would have deleted it off my sticky note. But these words do feel pretty familiar. Hmm...lemme check. And, sure enough, I had written about it before. A little over a year ago. Ur-dur!
So you get this post about that failed process instead.
"You're a handsome devil. What's your name?" - Mary Blank
Feb 28, 2012
Late Winter Funk
Anyone else out there going through a late Winter funk?
Seems to be going around in these parts. Not really sure why. It was, by far, the mildest Winter I can remember. We had exactly one snowstorm that required actual shoveling this year. And even then, the snow was gone in two days due to unseasonably warm weather and a rainstorm. So we haven't had that cold, dark, hopeless Winter like we had last year.
And the days are getting longer and even warmer still. So Spring and hope and baseball and all that good stuff are all so close I can smell them. Plus I have a trip to Key West coming up in April, and some other fun stuff on the horizon. So a late Winter funk didn't exactly fit into my plans, if you know what I mean. If anything, I should be riding a bit of a high.
But every time you turn on the news, there is some politician hating on some other politician or some religious group or women or men or gays or whatever demographic group they happen to point their evil eye towards that particular day. Or kids coming to school with guns and shooting up their classmates. Or journalists being killed in a far-away land. Or weapons of mass destruction in the hands of our enemies. How about just the concept that we STILL have enemies in this day and age of relative enlightenment? Ugh.
Whatever the cause, I hope it goes away soon. March is a couple of short days away, and maybe a better mood will arrive along with it. Maybe we just need some real funk instead of this sad bastard crap.
Yeah...let's give that a try, shall we?
Seems to be going around in these parts. Not really sure why. It was, by far, the mildest Winter I can remember. We had exactly one snowstorm that required actual shoveling this year. And even then, the snow was gone in two days due to unseasonably warm weather and a rainstorm. So we haven't had that cold, dark, hopeless Winter like we had last year.
And the days are getting longer and even warmer still. So Spring and hope and baseball and all that good stuff are all so close I can smell them. Plus I have a trip to Key West coming up in April, and some other fun stuff on the horizon. So a late Winter funk didn't exactly fit into my plans, if you know what I mean. If anything, I should be riding a bit of a high.
But every time you turn on the news, there is some politician hating on some other politician or some religious group or women or men or gays or whatever demographic group they happen to point their evil eye towards that particular day. Or kids coming to school with guns and shooting up their classmates. Or journalists being killed in a far-away land. Or weapons of mass destruction in the hands of our enemies. How about just the concept that we STILL have enemies in this day and age of relative enlightenment? Ugh.
Whatever the cause, I hope it goes away soon. March is a couple of short days away, and maybe a better mood will arrive along with it. Maybe we just need some real funk instead of this sad bastard crap.
Yeah...let's give that a try, shall we?
Feb 26, 2012
Live Chat - The Oscars
We are in full-on multi-task mode tonight in the Cornfield.
I'm going to open up the chat room at 8PM EST so that we can live-blog the Oscars broadcast. I should have lots to offer since I've seen all of two of the films that have been nominated. Hehe.
Then at 9PM, I'll start the radio show where the Colonel and I will offer witty and not-so-witty commentary. We'll also talk about baseball during the commercial breaks and that segment where the accountants discuss the voting procedures. Maybe during the silly musical numbers as well. We'll see.
So if you are watching the show tonight and you plan on having your computer in front of you, why not join us in the Cornfield for a true community experience.
Plus as many pee jokes as we can think of. Urine for a special evening. See what I did there?
I'm going to open up the chat room at 8PM EST so that we can live-blog the Oscars broadcast. I should have lots to offer since I've seen all of two of the films that have been nominated. Hehe.
Then at 9PM, I'll start the radio show where the Colonel and I will offer witty and not-so-witty commentary. We'll also talk about baseball during the commercial breaks and that segment where the accountants discuss the voting procedures. Maybe during the silly musical numbers as well. We'll see.
So if you are watching the show tonight and you plan on having your computer in front of you, why not join us in the Cornfield for a true community experience.
Plus as many pee jokes as we can think of. Urine for a special evening. See what I did there?
Feb 24, 2012
Oscars in the Cornfield
Hey kids!
This Sunday, during our regularly scheduled recording of Just Talking to the Cornfield at 9PM EST, we are going to attempt to live-blog the Oscars broadcast at the same time. I know the Oscars start before then, but we'll catch everyone up on what happened before.
And we'll fill the down-time with our usual baseball drivel. Including as many urine jokes as possible in honor of Ryan Braun getting his 50-game suspension overturned yesterday. So...urine for a great time. Get it?
Uh...sorry about that. Join us Sunday night in the Cornfield, and I'll try to make it up to you.
This Sunday, during our regularly scheduled recording of Just Talking to the Cornfield at 9PM EST, we are going to attempt to live-blog the Oscars broadcast at the same time. I know the Oscars start before then, but we'll catch everyone up on what happened before.
And we'll fill the down-time with our usual baseball drivel. Including as many urine jokes as possible in honor of Ryan Braun getting his 50-game suspension overturned yesterday. So...urine for a great time. Get it?
Uh...sorry about that. Join us Sunday night in the Cornfield, and I'll try to make it up to you.
Feb 22, 2012
A Plea
To those of you/us using Blogger as your blogging platform,
Please figure out a way to turn off Word Verification on your blog. Please, please, please.
Recently, Blogger decided to enable Word Verification on every single blog. And, unlike the previous voluntary Word Verification captchkas, they've made them nearly impossible to decipher. Here's a random example of one that is almost legible.
Go ahead. Make it bigger. It's still not going to make it any more legible. Why they felt the need to make one word all fuzzy and then use back-color to make the second word harder to see, I'll never know. And, like I said, this is one of the easier ones I've seen. Sometimes it takes me 2 or 3 tries to get one that I can actually read. It's ridiculous!
So I figured out how to disable it on my blog. I hate that I hate to figure out how to disable something I never enabled in the first place, but that's another story. There's a catch, though. You have to switch your Blogger editor back to the old editor to change the Settings on your Comments. The new Blogger Editor doesn't even have the option to turn Word Verification either on or off. It's ridiculous times two!
Wanna know what is really bugging me about this? I was using the Beta version of the new Blogger Editor called "Blogger in Draft". So I always had the choice to switch back to the old Editor. But since I did this, I inadvertently switched back to the new Editor which is no longer in Beta testing. So now I have no way of getting back to the old Editor should the need ever arise. It's ridiculous to the third power!
So please, try to figure out a way to turn off your Word Verification if you can. I know some of you have had issues with spam, as I have in the past. But I fixed that by selecting Comment Moderation on posts older than 7 days. If spammers want to hit me on my most recent posts...well, I guess I'll have to live with that. Because this new Word Verification system sucks ass!
Fantasy Baseball Update - Still waiting to hear if more than 2 of you want to do this. I could open it up to some others how might be interested, but I kinda wanted this to be for my Bloggy and Tweety buds. Joining a league with folks you don't know can lead to some awkward moments.
Case in point, a couple of years ago I joined a league with a bunch of people at Gia's former job. I didn't know any of them, but I did it as a favor to her and her friend who ran the league.. Because I didn't know any of them, it was more difficult for me to engage them in trades or what-not. Then I was able to convince one of them to complete a trade with me (it was actually his suggestion) late in May. Like all my trade offers, I thought it would help both of our teams. I'm never one of those guys looking to rip someone off. I hate that. But I hate being accused of it even more. Which is exactly what happened in this case. Not by the guy I was dealing with, but another owner. This league had a veto rule. If half the league vetoed a trade, it wouldn't go through. Initially, this one owner was the only one who vetoed it. Then he started an email protest campaign against it and me, convincing the other owners in the league that I was ripping off the other guy and that it was THE WORST TRADE IN THE HISTORY OF FANTASY BASEBALL!!! I wasn't even the one who initiated the trade in the first place, yet I was the asshole here. So he convinced the rest of the league to nix the trade. Whatever. But at the end of the year, he posted a note on the league message board that we were all saps. The trade he got vetoed was fair...beyond fair. He just didn't want to see it happen for whatever reason. He thought that was real funny that he was able to do that. I told him it made him look like a little bitch. He wasn't happy with that. Whatever. I wasn't re-upping for the next year anyway and Gia was leaving that job. So fuck that guy. Anyway, that's one of the reasons why I don't like being in leagues with people I don't know. Ya know?
Please figure out a way to turn off Word Verification on your blog. Please, please, please.
Recently, Blogger decided to enable Word Verification on every single blog. And, unlike the previous voluntary Word Verification captchkas, they've made them nearly impossible to decipher. Here's a random example of one that is almost legible.
 |
| imprison (?), ackgreer (?) |
Go ahead. Make it bigger. It's still not going to make it any more legible. Why they felt the need to make one word all fuzzy and then use back-color to make the second word harder to see, I'll never know. And, like I said, this is one of the easier ones I've seen. Sometimes it takes me 2 or 3 tries to get one that I can actually read. It's ridiculous!
So I figured out how to disable it on my blog. I hate that I hate to figure out how to disable something I never enabled in the first place, but that's another story. There's a catch, though. You have to switch your Blogger editor back to the old editor to change the Settings on your Comments. The new Blogger Editor doesn't even have the option to turn Word Verification either on or off. It's ridiculous times two!
Wanna know what is really bugging me about this? I was using the Beta version of the new Blogger Editor called "Blogger in Draft". So I always had the choice to switch back to the old Editor. But since I did this, I inadvertently switched back to the new Editor which is no longer in Beta testing. So now I have no way of getting back to the old Editor should the need ever arise. It's ridiculous to the third power!
So please, try to figure out a way to turn off your Word Verification if you can. I know some of you have had issues with spam, as I have in the past. But I fixed that by selecting Comment Moderation on posts older than 7 days. If spammers want to hit me on my most recent posts...well, I guess I'll have to live with that. Because this new Word Verification system sucks ass!
_______________________________________________________
Case in point, a couple of years ago I joined a league with a bunch of people at Gia's former job. I didn't know any of them, but I did it as a favor to her and her friend who ran the league.. Because I didn't know any of them, it was more difficult for me to engage them in trades or what-not. Then I was able to convince one of them to complete a trade with me (it was actually his suggestion) late in May. Like all my trade offers, I thought it would help both of our teams. I'm never one of those guys looking to rip someone off. I hate that. But I hate being accused of it even more. Which is exactly what happened in this case. Not by the guy I was dealing with, but another owner. This league had a veto rule. If half the league vetoed a trade, it wouldn't go through. Initially, this one owner was the only one who vetoed it. Then he started an email protest campaign against it and me, convincing the other owners in the league that I was ripping off the other guy and that it was THE WORST TRADE IN THE HISTORY OF FANTASY BASEBALL!!! I wasn't even the one who initiated the trade in the first place, yet I was the asshole here. So he convinced the rest of the league to nix the trade. Whatever. But at the end of the year, he posted a note on the league message board that we were all saps. The trade he got vetoed was fair...beyond fair. He just didn't want to see it happen for whatever reason. He thought that was real funny that he was able to do that. I told him it made him look like a little bitch. He wasn't happy with that. Whatever. I wasn't re-upping for the next year anyway and Gia was leaving that job. So fuck that guy. Anyway, that's one of the reasons why I don't like being in leagues with people I don't know. Ya know?
Feb 21, 2012
Music Tuesdays
Not that I normally post music on Tuesdays. I mostly do that on Fridays, but what the hell.
Here's Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with "Red Right Hand". Heard this yesterday on Pandora, and it seems like forever since I had heard it. I remember it was used on The X-Files back in the late 90's. Very cool tune.
Directly after that song, Pandora put up one of my favorite tunes from The Airborne Toxic Event, "It Doesn't Mean A Thing". I dig the version from this video below as well. Dig.
The songs really have nothing do with one another. I just dig that Pandora knows what I like. You're okay in my book, Pandora!
Here's Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with "Red Right Hand". Heard this yesterday on Pandora, and it seems like forever since I had heard it. I remember it was used on The X-Files back in the late 90's. Very cool tune.
Directly after that song, Pandora put up one of my favorite tunes from The Airborne Toxic Event, "It Doesn't Mean A Thing". I dig the version from this video below as well. Dig.
The songs really have nothing do with one another. I just dig that Pandora knows what I like. You're okay in my book, Pandora!
Feb 19, 2012
New Episode of JTTTC: Tonight 9PM EST
Today is the semi-official start of the baseball season as pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training. And the Colonel and I couldn't be more excited. We are also nearing the one-year anniversary of Just Talking to the Cornfield. My, how time flies.
So in honor of the beginning of the season and the 1st anniversary of our show, we are having a special episode (in our normal time-slot) of Just Talking to the Cornfield tonight at 9PM EST. Why is it special? Well, for many reasons. But mostly because it is our second annual "Top 20 Things We Are Excited About for the Upcoming Season" episode. Yay!
Join the Colonel and I, and find out what we are jazzed about for the 2012 MLB season. We will also discuss the Linsanity that is taking over New York and the NBA. And we may have our drink on. It's a little after 5PM right now, and I just poured myself a big cocktail. So I may or may not be coherent by the time the show begins.
You probably wanna check that out either way.
Cheers!
Fantasy Baseball Update: - So far, I've only had one person respond positively to my inquiry about starting a fantasy baseball league for this here blogging crowd. I'll post several reminders during the next two weeks and we'll see where we are on March 1st. I'll keep you posted.
So in honor of the beginning of the season and the 1st anniversary of our show, we are having a special episode (in our normal time-slot) of Just Talking to the Cornfield tonight at 9PM EST. Why is it special? Well, for many reasons. But mostly because it is our second annual "Top 20 Things We Are Excited About for the Upcoming Season" episode. Yay!
Join the Colonel and I, and find out what we are jazzed about for the 2012 MLB season. We will also discuss the Linsanity that is taking over New York and the NBA. And we may have our drink on. It's a little after 5PM right now, and I just poured myself a big cocktail. So I may or may not be coherent by the time the show begins.
You probably wanna check that out either way.
Cheers!
Fantasy Baseball Update: - So far, I've only had one person respond positively to my inquiry about starting a fantasy baseball league for this here blogging crowd. I'll post several reminders during the next two weeks and we'll see where we are on March 1st. I'll keep you posted.
Feb 17, 2012
Anyone interested in Fantasy Baseball?
So I belong to a competitive Fantasy Baseball league that a friend of mine runs, and it's a blast! For those of you who don't know what Fantasy Baseball is, here is a wiki link.
Fantasy Baseball, and the most popular variety called Rotisserie, has been around for around 30 years now. I've been participating in leagues for about 22 years, and they are always fun for the baseball fan. The league I participate in now is a keeper weekly Head-to-Heat points league with playoffs. The "keeper" there means that we can offer players on our teams 2 or 3 year contracts within the rule structures of the league. We choose players in an auction and each team has a salary cap. So you have to fill your fantasy roster with real players using fake money. Basically, if you really want Albert Pujols on your team you can spend the most money to get him, but it's probably gonna hurt the overall team you "field". It's all kinda complicated, but fun.
But I've been thinking back to a simpler time and I think I'd like to participate in an old-school 5X5 Roto league with a plain, old draft. Just for shits and giggles. So I thought I'd see if there was anyone here who reads this pathetic blog who would like to join me in this endeavor. I figure if I get another 9 or so people who want to join, then I will go ahead and do it.
My Rules
Even if you aren't interested, maybe you can forward this around to some of your bloggy friends who might be interested. I can't imagine getting 9 other people from just my small number of readers. But I'll ask through Twitter as well, and maybe some of you kind folks can re-Tweet that shit and we'll see where we wind up. If there is enough interest after a week or so, I'll contact those who want to be involved and set the whole thing up. Easy peasy.
So what say you? Anyone interested?
Fantasy Baseball, and the most popular variety called Rotisserie, has been around for around 30 years now. I've been participating in leagues for about 22 years, and they are always fun for the baseball fan. The league I participate in now is a keeper weekly Head-to-Heat points league with playoffs. The "keeper" there means that we can offer players on our teams 2 or 3 year contracts within the rule structures of the league. We choose players in an auction and each team has a salary cap. So you have to fill your fantasy roster with real players using fake money. Basically, if you really want Albert Pujols on your team you can spend the most money to get him, but it's probably gonna hurt the overall team you "field". It's all kinda complicated, but fun.
But I've been thinking back to a simpler time and I think I'd like to participate in an old-school 5X5 Roto league with a plain, old draft. Just for shits and giggles. So I thought I'd see if there was anyone here who reads this pathetic blog who would like to join me in this endeavor. I figure if I get another 9 or so people who want to join, then I will go ahead and do it.
My Rules
- You don't have to be a big baseball fan to join. Just someone who thinks they might enjoy interacting and playing along with other like-minded folk. It's all in good fun.
- It will be a 5X5 Rotisserie League, probably run through Yahoo! Sports. If you don't know what a 5X5 Roto League is, but you are interested, you can email me and I will edumacate you.
- It will be an online draft. I'll select a time that is agreeable to all. All you will need is a couple of hours in front of your computer sometime in late March to be involved. There is an option with these leagues to set your draft order and let the software auto-draft for you, but what fun is that?
- The draft order will be randomly selected. Basically, I will randomly select the preference order and then ask each team, in order, where they want to pick. If there are 10 teams, then the team that picks #1 overall gets the 1st pick in the 1st round, the last pick in the 2nd round, the 1st pick in the third round, etc... The team that picks last gets the last pick in the 1st round, but the 1st pick in the second round. It's called a "snake draft". There is some strategy here. Some people prefer to pick in the middle of a round, some at the beginning, some at the end.
- This league will only be for fun. No money or prizes. Just something to make the long baseball league a bit more interesting for those involved.
Even if you aren't interested, maybe you can forward this around to some of your bloggy friends who might be interested. I can't imagine getting 9 other people from just my small number of readers. But I'll ask through Twitter as well, and maybe some of you kind folks can re-Tweet that shit and we'll see where we wind up. If there is enough interest after a week or so, I'll contact those who want to be involved and set the whole thing up. Easy peasy.
So what say you? Anyone interested?
Feb 16, 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen...Tony Plush
I've generally ignored the "Shit ____ Say" meme or trend or phenomena or whatever. The first couple I saw were kinda funny, but they degenerated quickly into a tiresome form of comedy that just wasn't funny. And I generally like my comedy to be of the funny variety.
Enter Tony Plush.
First, a little background. Tony Plush is the online/social media altar-ego of Major League Ballplayer and current Milwaukee Brewer Nyjer Morgan. Now, his name was already cool to begin with. Nyjer. He was also already the coolest cat to interview after a game. And he is one of the growing number of young, black men in this country who also could have had a career playing hockey professionally. He played semi-pro hockey as recently as 11 years ago before turning his attention to baseball full-time. Pretty damn cool.
But, really, it's when he slips into the Tony Plush persona that Nyjer Morgan really shines. His "gentleman's name", as he likes to call it. His Twitter feed is often hilarious (just as often...not), regaling us with his gentlemanly adventures. Either on his own or with his adopted cat, Slick Willy.
Since it's the off-season, he decided that Tony Plush needed to jump in on the "Shit ____ Say" bandwagon with a video of his own.
For your viewing pleasure, here's Tony Plush with "Shit Black Guys Do". You won't regret watching this. Even if you don't enjoy Nyjer Morgan's fun energy or rather impressive baseball skillz.
Enter Tony Plush.
First, a little background. Tony Plush is the online/social media altar-ego of Major League Ballplayer and current Milwaukee Brewer Nyjer Morgan. Now, his name was already cool to begin with. Nyjer. He was also already the coolest cat to interview after a game. And he is one of the growing number of young, black men in this country who also could have had a career playing hockey professionally. He played semi-pro hockey as recently as 11 years ago before turning his attention to baseball full-time. Pretty damn cool.
But, really, it's when he slips into the Tony Plush persona that Nyjer Morgan really shines. His "gentleman's name", as he likes to call it. His Twitter feed is often hilarious (just as often...not), regaling us with his gentlemanly adventures. Either on his own or with his adopted cat, Slick Willy.
Since it's the off-season, he decided that Tony Plush needed to jump in on the "Shit ____ Say" bandwagon with a video of his own.
For your viewing pleasure, here's Tony Plush with "Shit Black Guys Do". You won't regret watching this. Even if you don't enjoy Nyjer Morgan's fun energy or rather impressive baseball skillz.
Feb 15, 2012
Lilyhammer
For those of you with Netflix accounts, check out the full first season of Lilyhammer. The first original programming offered by Netflix, and a damn fine offering at that.
It tells the tale of a mob guy named Frankie the Fixer and his relocation to Lillehammer, Norway as a part of the Witness Protection Services. He was forced to turn rat after an unsuccessful attempt was made on his life by his co-horts in crime. He chose Lillehammer because of his fascination with the 1994 Winter Olympics that were held in and near that town. It's a classic "fish out of water" story. Definitely a comedy, but not outrageously so. The comedy comes more from the situations that arise when a tough NY mob guy has to adjust to life in idyllic, rural-sh Norway.
Steve Van Zandt riffs off of his character from The Sopranos as Frankie the Fixer turned Giovanni Henrikksen. And even though he is basically playing the same character, he gets to stretch his wings quite a bit more in this one. His Frankie/Giovanni is much more interesting than Silvio Dante. Less and more dangerous at the same time, he is a man who falls in love with a town, a people, a woman and her son. Offering wiseguy advice and logic and learning a thing or two himself.
One of the interesting things about the show is the Norwegian cast. Van Zandt plays the only character who speaks English on a full-time basis. As a part of his relocation, he learned the language but not enough to speak it himself. So he understands everyone and they all understand him, even though they speak Norwegian most of the time. So it's basically a foreign show in subtitles. Don't worry, it's not distracting at all.
It's not the most original concept in the world. It's been done time and time again from Northern Exposure to My Cousin Vinny. But it works. And I'm fascinated by Norway, so it offered that extra appeal for me.
The show has been getting good reviews and it has been renewed for another season. But you can check out the first 8 episodes online right now. Capisce?
It tells the tale of a mob guy named Frankie the Fixer and his relocation to Lillehammer, Norway as a part of the Witness Protection Services. He was forced to turn rat after an unsuccessful attempt was made on his life by his co-horts in crime. He chose Lillehammer because of his fascination with the 1994 Winter Olympics that were held in and near that town. It's a classic "fish out of water" story. Definitely a comedy, but not outrageously so. The comedy comes more from the situations that arise when a tough NY mob guy has to adjust to life in idyllic, rural-sh Norway.
Steve Van Zandt riffs off of his character from The Sopranos as Frankie the Fixer turned Giovanni Henrikksen. And even though he is basically playing the same character, he gets to stretch his wings quite a bit more in this one. His Frankie/Giovanni is much more interesting than Silvio Dante. Less and more dangerous at the same time, he is a man who falls in love with a town, a people, a woman and her son. Offering wiseguy advice and logic and learning a thing or two himself.
One of the interesting things about the show is the Norwegian cast. Van Zandt plays the only character who speaks English on a full-time basis. As a part of his relocation, he learned the language but not enough to speak it himself. So he understands everyone and they all understand him, even though they speak Norwegian most of the time. So it's basically a foreign show in subtitles. Don't worry, it's not distracting at all.
It's not the most original concept in the world. It's been done time and time again from Northern Exposure to My Cousin Vinny. But it works. And I'm fascinated by Norway, so it offered that extra appeal for me.
The show has been getting good reviews and it has been renewed for another season. But you can check out the first 8 episodes online right now. Capisce?
Feb 10, 2012
Early in the Morning
I don't know a hell of a lot about Papa Mali yet. But I plan on digging a little deeper as he seems like a cool cat. Check him and the band doing "Early in the Morning" down below.
Dig.
Dig.
Feb 8, 2012
Etymology of a Nickname - pt II
 |
| Bennington and Gogo |
But Gogo's nickname transformation makes me laugh all the time. Somehow, she has become Feta Cheese. Yeah...Gogo to Feta Cheese. How does that happen? Let's take a look, shall we?
- Gogo becomes Gogo-Nut, because she's bat-shit crazy. That didn't stick.
- Then we start calling her Bobo, for some reason. Didn't stick either.
- But the "Bobo" gave us inspiration for Gogo Fett. Well, Boba Fett helped a bit with that one.
- From there it's easy. Goga Fett becomes Gogo Feta which, of course, becomes Feta Cheese.
Dear God...I've become an insane cat person. Help. Me.
PS - Can you handle the redonk cuteness of that pic above? Now Bennington is large and Gogo is tiny, but that picture really highlights the difference. What you can't see is that he is basically sitting ON her. A situation that would normally turn her into Black Annis. All fury and claws. But she was oddly content for 15 minutes or so like this.
Feb 6, 2012
Nobody But Me
I don't know when it happened, but somehow Twilight Zone: The Movie went from "Holy Shit...that's the flick where John Landis killed Vic Morrow!" to that flick with Dan Ackroyd and Albert Brooks were singing "Midnight Special". I mean, I guess Landis didn't really kill Morrow (along with two others) HIMSELF. And he was eventually found Not Guilty in the trial. But, c'mon...that was the flick that Vic Morrow was decapitated, and there is no reason that I should have forgotten that. At the very least, that memory shouldn't have been replaced by another memory of two actors singing along to Creedance.
Memory is a weird thing like that.
I re-watched it the other night. Probably for the first time in nearly 20 years. And damn if it didn't start off right away with Creedance, Ackroyd and Brooks singing "Midnight Special". Just like my dominant memory, um, remembered. Then came the Burgess Meredith voice-over mentioning the angriest man in the world, and all of a sudden the forgotten memory of Vic Morrow's death came flooding back.
Now I'm set for the next dozen years or so.
But really, Ackroyd and Brooks singing together is a much happier memory. Until that damned tape deck eats the cassette. Thank God those things don't really exist anymore. Ruining a perfectly happy memory like that. And who knows? If it hadn't eaten that cassette, maybe Ackroyd wouldn't have turned into some feral creature and eaten Brooks. Then again, it WAS a movie. I probably shouldn't wonder about "real-life" timeline changes like that.
Although that would be a fun thing too, wouldn't it? What would have happened if Beatrix Kiddo had just told Bill that the baby was his a bit earlier on? Maybe all those folks wouldn't have had to die at her hands. And the movie would have probably sucked. I really have no idea where I was going with this.
Oh, there was a television show as well. I guess most people remember the television show over the movie. That's another place where my memory goes all spastic. I should remember the television show first, but my first thought always seems to be "Let the Midnight Special....". Blah blah blah.
Do you remember the Dutch band Golden Earring? They had a modest hit with a song called "Twilight Zone" in the mid-80's as well. They are more well-known for their mega-hit "Radar Love". I remember that there was this rumor that they spoke no English at all and they recorded that song phonetically. I dunno if that's true or not. I do know that I had the album, "Moontan", that the song came from and there were other songs on it. All in English. I also know that whenever anyone looked at my music collection back then, they would wonder why I had a Golden Earring album from 1973. No one I've ever met has owned that album.
Nobody but me.
Fuck it. Let's just watch Uma (and Zoe Bell) fuck some shit up. Tarantino-style.
Memory is a weird thing like that.
I re-watched it the other night. Probably for the first time in nearly 20 years. And damn if it didn't start off right away with Creedance, Ackroyd and Brooks singing "Midnight Special". Just like my dominant memory, um, remembered. Then came the Burgess Meredith voice-over mentioning the angriest man in the world, and all of a sudden the forgotten memory of Vic Morrow's death came flooding back.
Now I'm set for the next dozen years or so.
But really, Ackroyd and Brooks singing together is a much happier memory. Until that damned tape deck eats the cassette. Thank God those things don't really exist anymore. Ruining a perfectly happy memory like that. And who knows? If it hadn't eaten that cassette, maybe Ackroyd wouldn't have turned into some feral creature and eaten Brooks. Then again, it WAS a movie. I probably shouldn't wonder about "real-life" timeline changes like that.
Although that would be a fun thing too, wouldn't it? What would have happened if Beatrix Kiddo had just told Bill that the baby was his a bit earlier on? Maybe all those folks wouldn't have had to die at her hands. And the movie would have probably sucked. I really have no idea where I was going with this.
Oh, there was a television show as well. I guess most people remember the television show over the movie. That's another place where my memory goes all spastic. I should remember the television show first, but my first thought always seems to be "Let the Midnight Special....". Blah blah blah.
Do you remember the Dutch band Golden Earring? They had a modest hit with a song called "Twilight Zone" in the mid-80's as well. They are more well-known for their mega-hit "Radar Love". I remember that there was this rumor that they spoke no English at all and they recorded that song phonetically. I dunno if that's true or not. I do know that I had the album, "Moontan", that the song came from and there were other songs on it. All in English. I also know that whenever anyone looked at my music collection back then, they would wonder why I had a Golden Earring album from 1973. No one I've ever met has owned that album.
Nobody but me.
Fuck it. Let's just watch Uma (and Zoe Bell) fuck some shit up. Tarantino-style.
Feb 2, 2012
I can see it!
"Pitchers and catchers." Those three little words mean just as much to obsessive baseball fans as those other"three little words everyone knows about. I'm talking about "bacon and bourbon", of course.
We've hit February, and February is the month that pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, and baseball begins anew. We are less the three weeks away. I can see February 19th on my calendar. I can see it! It's coming!
And I can't wait.
In the meantime, here's a little story about a good-guy outfielder with a history of some bad game. Except for his exceptional arm in right field and the extraordinary optimism about his own talents. His name is Jeff Francoeur, nickname "Frenchy", and he plays for the Kansas City Royals. Last year, he had his finest year in the bigs since his out-of-the-blue rookie season in 2005 for his hometown Atlanta Braves. The expectations many had for him after that excellent rookie season have largely gone down the drain along with his high strikeout rates and low OBP skills. Yet, he keeps trying. And teams keep giving him chances. He still doesn't know how to take a walk, but he hit for average and power last year. All while playing an excellent RF.
That story should bring a smile to anyone who enjoys baseball. And bacon, for that matter. Yes, bacon is involved. Oddly. And I actually watched the second game in the story last year, for one reason or another. I remember because the play described in the last sentence is one of the defensive highlights of the past year. Something you rarely see, but something you always wish would happen. Very cool stuff.
Oh, and Frenchy has long been a favorite of mine and a favorite of others. Even with his lack of truly exceptional skills. Joe Posnanski wrote about him last spring. If you liked that first story, you should read Joe Poz' take on him as well. Great stuff.
You might just become a fan of Frenchy after reading both of those. You should become a fan of his. Because he's one of the good ones. Even for occasional baseball cynics like me.
We've hit February, and February is the month that pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, and baseball begins anew. We are less the three weeks away. I can see February 19th on my calendar. I can see it! It's coming!
And I can't wait.
In the meantime, here's a little story about a good-guy outfielder with a history of some bad game. Except for his exceptional arm in right field and the extraordinary optimism about his own talents. His name is Jeff Francoeur, nickname "Frenchy", and he plays for the Kansas City Royals. Last year, he had his finest year in the bigs since his out-of-the-blue rookie season in 2005 for his hometown Atlanta Braves. The expectations many had for him after that excellent rookie season have largely gone down the drain along with his high strikeout rates and low OBP skills. Yet, he keeps trying. And teams keep giving him chances. He still doesn't know how to take a walk, but he hit for average and power last year. All while playing an excellent RF.
That story should bring a smile to anyone who enjoys baseball. And bacon, for that matter. Yes, bacon is involved. Oddly. And I actually watched the second game in the story last year, for one reason or another. I remember because the play described in the last sentence is one of the defensive highlights of the past year. Something you rarely see, but something you always wish would happen. Very cool stuff.
Oh, and Frenchy has long been a favorite of mine and a favorite of others. Even with his lack of truly exceptional skills. Joe Posnanski wrote about him last spring. If you liked that first story, you should read Joe Poz' take on him as well. Great stuff.
You might just become a fan of Frenchy after reading both of those. You should become a fan of his. Because he's one of the good ones. Even for occasional baseball cynics like me.
Feb 1, 2012
Kindle Fire Review
A few weeks back, Gia gave me the wonderful gift of a Kindle Fire from Amazon. She's been an Apple gal forever. A bunch of Mac computers in her past. On her third iPhone, but still using the first iPad like a fucking savage. ;)
But this Kindle Fire tablet is my first real gadget for the sake of having a gadget. I NEED my laptop PC for work...and for play. I NEED my not-so-smart phone for work...and for play. But really the only reason I would get a tablet, of any kind, is for play and for play alone.
The Kindle Fire does that well. It does it very well. It ain't perfect, and I'm not saying it's as good as an iPad. But for my purposes, it works just as well. Let's do a quick round of Sergio Leone's favorite game, shall we?
The Good
But this Kindle Fire tablet is my first real gadget for the sake of having a gadget. I NEED my laptop PC for work...and for play. I NEED my not-so-smart phone for work...and for play. But really the only reason I would get a tablet, of any kind, is for play and for play alone.
The Kindle Fire does that well. It does it very well. It ain't perfect, and I'm not saying it's as good as an iPad. But for my purposes, it works just as well. Let's do a quick round of Sergio Leone's favorite game, shall we?
The Good
- The e-reader it top notch. It's exactly what I wanted an e-reader to be when the first Kindles were introduced. No buttons, just swiping. And the size of the screen is relatively the same as a paperback, which I what I normally read anyway. Sure, the e-reader (and the Kindle app) on the iPad work pretty much the same and look just as good. But for hundreds of dollars less, you get the same functionality.
- Watching films or TV shows thru Netflix or Amazon Instant is fast, bright and convenient. The screen size is just about perfect for watching a film in bed or waiting in a reception area. It's much better than I thought it was going to be.
- It's ultra-convenient to carry around. I haven't found the cover that I like yet, but I have a number of jackets that have a handy pocket or two that it slips into rather nicely. And having it by my side when I'm watching a TV show and I want to quickly look something up on the Internet is ultra-convenient as well. Very easy to swipe it on and type a few characters for the answer. Much more so than opening up my laptop for the same exact thing.
- Plenty of useful and free apps available from the Amazon Store. Too many for me to even consider reviewing right now. Mostly because I haven't done anything with them yet. But I will. I'm sure I will.
- For right now, I'm pretty much using it for brain candy right before I go to bed. A quick game of this or that, filtering through my feed reader, reading what my Tweeple are saying. And that's all fine. The mobile versions of Twitter and Google Reader work great on it. But for a lot of other websites out there? Not so much. Even just a simple Google search is...awkward on the Kindle Fire. Maybe iPad users experience the same thing. I don't know, but I much prefer serious web surfing on my laptop PC to the tablet experience so far.
- No 3G. Oh well.
- No camera, blue-tooth, GPS or mic either. Oh well, again.
- As I kinda alluded to above, I hate typing on the thing. I've always been a physical keyboard guy, and I'm finding the touchscreen keyboard difficult to get used to. Hell, even my phone has a physical keyboard for texting and what-not. I'm a touch typist, and a pretty darned fast one at that. So going back to the old hunt and peck for typing on the touchscreen always makes me shake my head a bit.
- The Android operating system is a bit buggy. Not overwhelmingly so, but enough to make the Ugly list for me. I've encountered several screen freezes or application problems that seem to be tied directly to the operating system. I don't know if Amazon will be doing any system upgrades or fixes, but for right now I'm not thrilled with the performance of the system itself. More to follow on this one.
- Flash is supposed to be supported on the Kindle Fire, but most of the flash sites I've come across don't work or are EXTREMELY buggy. I think an operating system for a tablet, whether it's this one or iOS, should work with every internet site out there. Regardless of whether or not Flash is a good or bad product. I don't care. Everything that is on the Internet should be available on the device in full working condition. That's all I'm saying.
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