Wednesday, July 01, 2009
The Typing Makes Her Sound Busy
If you are considering going to an amusement park, or if you can read English, please visit thetypingmakesmesoundbusy.com to read Jelisa Castrodale's delightful takes on life, love, and being naked on mini golf courses.
Game 78: All Jail The Julio!
After yesterday's utter disaster, the Red Sox fell behind early, trailing the Orioles 5-1 before tying the game with four runs in the ninth, Our Man Youk coming up with a two run shot and Rhode Island's own Rocco Baldelli knocking a pinch two run single to tie the score. Then, it was none other than the much maligned Julio Lugo who knocked in Jacoby with the lead run in the 11th. The Lord of The Dance nailed it down, and that was it-win #48 is in the books.
Bill Simmons And Chuck Klosterman
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=2864045
Two of my fave raves, Bill Simmons and Chuck Klostermann, engage in a very entertaining 90 minute or so discussion of things pop cultural and not at the above link. (Just click on the title.) (I've only listened to part one of two thus far.)
Simmons is the Sports Guy, but the talk can drift pretty far afield. They are two pretty decent thinkers, and they often point out things I hadn't considered before.
Among the other topics they go over was Mr. Jackson's recent demise, and besides making the observation that Americans seem utterly willing to give Michael a mulligan for about 1989-2009, they also note the following-it has been repeatedly said that Jackson's music was era defining and world changing. Clearly, that's true-when the history of music in the 20th century is written, Michael Jackson gets a slice.
But we weren't saying this two weeks ago. Nobody was talking about how "Thriller" changed their lives (at least, not this much) two weeks ago. (Simmons actually did, once-he wrote in a column several months ago that it was becoming hard to explain to people who didnt live through the 1980s how huge a star Jackson was, given the traveling freak show his life had become.) Can we really say something changed our lives now, when two weeks ago, we hardly gave it a second thought? How much of Michael Jackson related grief is genuine sorrow, and how much is "everybody feels bad, so I do too"?
Two of my fave raves, Bill Simmons and Chuck Klostermann, engage in a very entertaining 90 minute or so discussion of things pop cultural and not at the above link. (Just click on the title.) (I've only listened to part one of two thus far.)
Simmons is the Sports Guy, but the talk can drift pretty far afield. They are two pretty decent thinkers, and they often point out things I hadn't considered before.
Among the other topics they go over was Mr. Jackson's recent demise, and besides making the observation that Americans seem utterly willing to give Michael a mulligan for about 1989-2009, they also note the following-it has been repeatedly said that Jackson's music was era defining and world changing. Clearly, that's true-when the history of music in the 20th century is written, Michael Jackson gets a slice.
But we weren't saying this two weeks ago. Nobody was talking about how "Thriller" changed their lives (at least, not this much) two weeks ago. (Simmons actually did, once-he wrote in a column several months ago that it was becoming hard to explain to people who didnt live through the 1980s how huge a star Jackson was, given the traveling freak show his life had become.) Can we really say something changed our lives now, when two weeks ago, we hardly gave it a second thought? How much of Michael Jackson related grief is genuine sorrow, and how much is "everybody feels bad, so I do too"?
Game 77: Tempting Fate
Pride goeth before the fall indeed.
After constructing a 9-1 lead, and sitting through a rain delay, Boston's vaunted bullpen apparently mistook themselves for the Mets' bullpen, undergoing a complete implosion. They allowed 5 runs in the seventh and 5 more in the 8th to give Baltimore a shocking 11-10 advantage, which George Sherrill managed to hang on to for a gut punch loss.
The blame pie has plenty of slices tonight, Bat Masterson taking one, along with Sensei Saito, the Okey Doke, MDC, and even the Lord of the Dance.
Sigh.
Teach me to mock the mighty Orioles.
After constructing a 9-1 lead, and sitting through a rain delay, Boston's vaunted bullpen apparently mistook themselves for the Mets' bullpen, undergoing a complete implosion. They allowed 5 runs in the seventh and 5 more in the 8th to give Baltimore a shocking 11-10 advantage, which George Sherrill managed to hang on to for a gut punch loss.
The blame pie has plenty of slices tonight, Bat Masterson taking one, along with Sensei Saito, the Okey Doke, MDC, and even the Lord of the Dance.
Sigh.
Teach me to mock the mighty Orioles.
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Spirit of Game 76
Boston shut out the Baltimore Orioles, 4-0 tonight, on the backs of 7 strong from Big Jon Lester and RBIs from Our Man DP, El Capitan, and a two run shot from Dr. Drew.
That's almost as good as shutting out a major league baseball team.
That's almost as good as shutting out a major league baseball team.
The Phil Nugent Experience: Sympathy for the Devil
The Phil Nugent Experience: Sympathy for the Devil
A very interesting take on Bernie Madoff by the very interesting Phil Nugent.
A very interesting take on Bernie Madoff by the very interesting Phil Nugent.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Game Seventy Five: A Near Run Thing
Boston lost 2-1 today, being nearly shut out by young Tommy Hanson and the Braves, 2-1. A pair of Brave homers off of Brad Penny was all the runs the Atlantans would need. Although Jason Varitek came up with a 9th inning RBI single to close the gap to 2-1, that was as close as they would get.
The Reading List
Books I've read recently:
Chadwick, Bruce. "Triumvirate"-Nonfiction about the ratification of the Constitution.
Not as engaging as I thought. I think I wasn't entirely in the mood.
Scotti, RA. "Vanished Smile"-Nonfiction about the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa.
Fascinating. Did you know the Mona Lisa was stolen? I didn't.
Irving, Clifford. "The Hoax"-Nonfiction about Irving's faux autobiography of Howard Hughes
Was made into a movie starring Richard Gere. Not bad, actually. A fine glimpse at how something that sounds fun can spin out of control.
Ben Veniste, Richard. "The Emperor's New Clothes"-Non fiction about the author's role in investigating government scandals from Watergate to the 9/11 Commission.
Great. I am a bit of a Watergate geek, so this was heaven for me, but the other stories were just as good.
Belfort, Jordan. "Catching the Wolf of Wall Street"-Nonfiction about the author's journey from Wall Street to prison.
Belfort ran an investment firm called Stratton Oakmont that was making money hand over fist for quite a while before Belfort got nabbed. This, along with his earlier work "The Wolf of Wall Street" is a no holds barred account of the cheating, the lying, the money, the drugs, and the women. Very Dionysian.
Stoll, Clifford. "The Cuckoo's Egg"-Nonfiction about the author's efforts to catch a computer hacker.
I read this a couple of times before, but I got it out of the library to read again. It is astonishingly out of date for a 20 year old book, but the adventure story of trying to catch the guy holds up.
Chadwick, Bruce. "Triumvirate"-Nonfiction about the ratification of the Constitution.
Not as engaging as I thought. I think I wasn't entirely in the mood.
Scotti, RA. "Vanished Smile"-Nonfiction about the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa.
Fascinating. Did you know the Mona Lisa was stolen? I didn't.
Irving, Clifford. "The Hoax"-Nonfiction about Irving's faux autobiography of Howard Hughes
Was made into a movie starring Richard Gere. Not bad, actually. A fine glimpse at how something that sounds fun can spin out of control.
Ben Veniste, Richard. "The Emperor's New Clothes"-Non fiction about the author's role in investigating government scandals from Watergate to the 9/11 Commission.
Great. I am a bit of a Watergate geek, so this was heaven for me, but the other stories were just as good.
Belfort, Jordan. "Catching the Wolf of Wall Street"-Nonfiction about the author's journey from Wall Street to prison.
Belfort ran an investment firm called Stratton Oakmont that was making money hand over fist for quite a while before Belfort got nabbed. This, along with his earlier work "The Wolf of Wall Street" is a no holds barred account of the cheating, the lying, the money, the drugs, and the women. Very Dionysian.
Stoll, Clifford. "The Cuckoo's Egg"-Nonfiction about the author's efforts to catch a computer hacker.
I read this a couple of times before, but I got it out of the library to read again. It is astonishingly out of date for a 20 year old book, but the adventure story of trying to catch the guy holds up.
(In Favor Of Parentheses)
Filmmaker Kevin Smith, whose "SModcast", an hour long, free flowing podcast discussion with producer Scott Mosier, can sometimes degrade into a marijuana haze fueled laughfest (I hasten to add-on Smith's part, not Mosier's), raised an excellent point on his most recent show (http://bit.ly/VXgZH) that I have been thinking about for quite a while.
Smith's point was about the fact that we tell our kids (Smith has a preteen daughter) that they can be anything they want to be, and that isn't really true. Only in the case of someone being supremely gifted while also motivated to an otherworldly degree can you really be anything you want to be-and that, of course, is assuming that you don't fall prey to addiction, or get hit by a bus, or get hit by an addict driving a bus.
Someone's got to make the fries, as Smith puts it. In America, we seem to give short shrift to the people who make the fries.
***
Interesting piece on On The Media (onthemedia.org) about Bill O'Reilly's stalker producer and the people who tried to turn the trick on him from Gawker.com.
I have always wondered why people, confronted like that, or perhaps going into a courtroom or something like that, say anything at all. Maybe they sometimes do remain silent, and nobody runs that footage. I hope, if I am ever confronted with a camera like that, I have the presence of mind to say nothing at all.
There is talk of a potential strike at my workplace. (I am not involved directly, except in the sense that, were it to happen, my life will get an extra soupcon of misery to put right on top of the regular old misery.)( I am not in the union, I guess because I am considered management. Which is laughable, because I'm not in charge of anything.)(I'm not sure how I feel about unions. I'm for them in principle, but every time I have ever worked with one, it's been a dysfunctional and horrid experience. Perhaps, like communism, it's something that seems good on paper but never works in practice.)(It appears I am, however, in favor of parentheses.)
Smith's point was about the fact that we tell our kids (Smith has a preteen daughter) that they can be anything they want to be, and that isn't really true. Only in the case of someone being supremely gifted while also motivated to an otherworldly degree can you really be anything you want to be-and that, of course, is assuming that you don't fall prey to addiction, or get hit by a bus, or get hit by an addict driving a bus.
Someone's got to make the fries, as Smith puts it. In America, we seem to give short shrift to the people who make the fries.
***
Interesting piece on On The Media (onthemedia.org) about Bill O'Reilly's stalker producer and the people who tried to turn the trick on him from Gawker.com.
I have always wondered why people, confronted like that, or perhaps going into a courtroom or something like that, say anything at all. Maybe they sometimes do remain silent, and nobody runs that footage. I hope, if I am ever confronted with a camera like that, I have the presence of mind to say nothing at all.
There is talk of a potential strike at my workplace. (I am not involved directly, except in the sense that, were it to happen, my life will get an extra soupcon of misery to put right on top of the regular old misery.)( I am not in the union, I guess because I am considered management. Which is laughable, because I'm not in charge of anything.)(I'm not sure how I feel about unions. I'm for them in principle, but every time I have ever worked with one, it's been a dysfunctional and horrid experience. Perhaps, like communism, it's something that seems good on paper but never works in practice.)(It appears I am, however, in favor of parentheses.)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Game Seventy Four: How Hot Do You Want It?
The answer, of course, is red hot.
The red hot Red Sox beat old friend Javier Vazquez, whom we seem able to beat whatever hat he wears,and the Bravos 1-0 on a RBI single by Professional Hitter Mark Kotsay in the sixth inning. All those lovely zeroes were provided by the firm of Wakefield, Delcarmen, Masterson, and Papelbon, A$$kickers at law.
The red hot Red Sox beat old friend Javier Vazquez, whom we seem able to beat whatever hat he wears,and the Bravos 1-0 on a RBI single by Professional Hitter Mark Kotsay in the sixth inning. All those lovely zeroes were provided by the firm of Wakefield, Delcarmen, Masterson, and Papelbon, A$$kickers at law.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Game Seventy Three: Red Hot in Hotlanta
In Atlanta tonight, Josh Beckett threw a wet blanket on Atlanta's hopes of victory, throttling them with seven shutout innings on the way to a 4-1 win.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Game Seventy Two: This is not the debut I ordered!
At Nationals Park tonight, the Washington Nationals greeted John Smoltz quite rudely in his 2009 debut, getting four first inning runs on the way to a 9-3 pasting of the Red Sox tonight.
Hysteria
I don’t care how many times you ask me, I don’t know what you need unless you tell me. Telling me that you just want the things that you need doesn’t help either.
***
Top Five Most Oddly Useful Movie Phrases:
1.“Well, then I’ll see you in Hell!”-Harrison Ford, The Empire Strikes Back
2.“I don’t have to hold hands with him on the way down.”-Tom Cruise, A Few Good Men
3.“ I hope you were the groom”- Brad Pitt, Ocean’s Eleven
4.“Is there someone else up there I can talk to?”-Graham Chapman, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
5.“Our ideas were better.”-Kathy Bates, Primary Colors
***
Is it really necessary to remind me, via two separate crappy cover versions of an Isley Brothers song, for my employers to remind me that I have work to do?
***
According to bypassers, singer Michael Jackson, certainly one of the most significant musical artists of the last 25 years, has died. I was not a fan by any means, but he was clearly, in the history of pop music, one of the giants. The fact that he later became a world class flake does not alter his significance.
***
One is tempted (well, I am, anyway, ) to mock Governor Mark Sanford, yet another stuffed shirt, holier than thou politician, all too willing to delight and crow at the failings of others, then brought low by his own extramarital affair. A very good book I once read said, “Judge not-lest ye be judged,” so I will refrain from exulting too much.
Two points come to mind, though-
1.It seems incredibly irresponsible for no one to be able to reach you, if you are the governor. Randy Pausch, in his book “The Final Lecture”, described how he dealt with the issue on his honeymoon. He left a number where he could be reached with his inlaws, and told his colleagues to call his in laws if they needed to reach him. If they could convince his inlaws that their call was so important as to interrupt their daughter’s honeymoon, they would pass on the message. I can respect his need to get away-I can even understand his need to get away from his family for a little while. But it seems like it’s your duty, as the sovereign officer of a state, to leave word where you can be reached. It’s simple-buy a $20.00 throwaway phone, give the number to the lieutenant governor, and tell him, “I’m going to go away for a little while, to clear my head, and I don’t want to tell anyone where I’m headed. If something is so earth shatteringly important that you HAVE to talk to me, call this number. Otherwise, I’ll see you next Wednesday.”
2.It is, of course, breathtakingly hypocritical to criticize others for extramarital affairs, and then have one’s own. I have several advantages on this front-I am married to the perfect woman, someone who would, without a doubt, thrash me to within a quarter inch of my life if I ever had an affair, and in addition, I am unattractive beyond the powers of words to describe. So I haven’t exactly faced this exact moral dilemma in my own life.
***
Another deeply stimulating Dan Carlin’s Common Sense this week. (www.dancarlin.com) Carlin’s monologue was about the deeply depressing and horribly prevalent topic of political corruption. Carlin made a point that I honestly had never considered before-a Senator or Congressman who makes a decision that affects the economic future of one of his or her contributors has a conflict of interest. No judge would dare rule on a case that they had a stake in-or at least, they shouldn’t. I don’t know how you fix that, (how do you make a rule about what Congressmen can vote on? And don’t you disenfranchise that Congressman’s constituents if you say he or she can’t vote on, say, health care reform?) and neither does Dan, but it’s fascinating to think about.
Every time I start mulling about campaign finance laws, (like you do)(h/t @erikjfisher and @wbrshow)( www.wbrshow.com ), I always run headlong into the same trap-Buckley vs. Valeo, a Supreme Court case that says , in politics, that money is speech. It is unconstitutional to restrict speech, outside of certain very broad outlines. But without restrictions on contributions, you have a Congress that is bought and paid for. But you can’t restrict speech….and on, and on, and on.
And then my head explodes.
Once again, I recommend Dan heartily. It’s free, it’s thought provoking, and it’s, uh, free.
***
***
Top Five Most Oddly Useful Movie Phrases:
1.“Well, then I’ll see you in Hell!”-Harrison Ford, The Empire Strikes Back
2.“I don’t have to hold hands with him on the way down.”-Tom Cruise, A Few Good Men
3.“ I hope you were the groom”- Brad Pitt, Ocean’s Eleven
4.“Is there someone else up there I can talk to?”-Graham Chapman, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
5.“Our ideas were better.”-Kathy Bates, Primary Colors
***
Is it really necessary to remind me, via two separate crappy cover versions of an Isley Brothers song, for my employers to remind me that I have work to do?
***
According to bypassers, singer Michael Jackson, certainly one of the most significant musical artists of the last 25 years, has died. I was not a fan by any means, but he was clearly, in the history of pop music, one of the giants. The fact that he later became a world class flake does not alter his significance.
***
One is tempted (well, I am, anyway, ) to mock Governor Mark Sanford, yet another stuffed shirt, holier than thou politician, all too willing to delight and crow at the failings of others, then brought low by his own extramarital affair. A very good book I once read said, “Judge not-lest ye be judged,” so I will refrain from exulting too much.
Two points come to mind, though-
1.It seems incredibly irresponsible for no one to be able to reach you, if you are the governor. Randy Pausch, in his book “The Final Lecture”, described how he dealt with the issue on his honeymoon. He left a number where he could be reached with his inlaws, and told his colleagues to call his in laws if they needed to reach him. If they could convince his inlaws that their call was so important as to interrupt their daughter’s honeymoon, they would pass on the message. I can respect his need to get away-I can even understand his need to get away from his family for a little while. But it seems like it’s your duty, as the sovereign officer of a state, to leave word where you can be reached. It’s simple-buy a $20.00 throwaway phone, give the number to the lieutenant governor, and tell him, “I’m going to go away for a little while, to clear my head, and I don’t want to tell anyone where I’m headed. If something is so earth shatteringly important that you HAVE to talk to me, call this number. Otherwise, I’ll see you next Wednesday.”
2.It is, of course, breathtakingly hypocritical to criticize others for extramarital affairs, and then have one’s own. I have several advantages on this front-I am married to the perfect woman, someone who would, without a doubt, thrash me to within a quarter inch of my life if I ever had an affair, and in addition, I am unattractive beyond the powers of words to describe. So I haven’t exactly faced this exact moral dilemma in my own life.
***
Another deeply stimulating Dan Carlin’s Common Sense this week. (www.dancarlin.com) Carlin’s monologue was about the deeply depressing and horribly prevalent topic of political corruption. Carlin made a point that I honestly had never considered before-a Senator or Congressman who makes a decision that affects the economic future of one of his or her contributors has a conflict of interest. No judge would dare rule on a case that they had a stake in-or at least, they shouldn’t. I don’t know how you fix that, (how do you make a rule about what Congressmen can vote on? And don’t you disenfranchise that Congressman’s constituents if you say he or she can’t vote on, say, health care reform?) and neither does Dan, but it’s fascinating to think about.
Every time I start mulling about campaign finance laws, (like you do)(h/t @erikjfisher and @wbrshow)( www.wbrshow.com ), I always run headlong into the same trap-Buckley vs. Valeo, a Supreme Court case that says , in politics, that money is speech. It is unconstitutional to restrict speech, outside of certain very broad outlines. But without restrictions on contributions, you have a Congress that is bought and paid for. But you can’t restrict speech….and on, and on, and on.
And then my head explodes.
Once again, I recommend Dan heartily. It’s free, it’s thought provoking, and it’s, uh, free.
***
Game Seventy One: These Games COUNT?
The Red Sox made fairly short work of the Nationals tonight, home runs from Jason Varitek and David Ortiz powering a 6-4 win in Washington. Jon Lester looked like his old self again, tossing 6 fine, workmanlike innings, and when a little uprising against Bat Masterson got a little out of hand, it was time for the Okey Doke and the Lord of the Dance to lock it down.
After one more game against the Zombie Expos (h/t Bill Simmons) tomorrow, featuring the 2009 debut of Secret Weapon(TM) John Smoltz, it's on to Hotlanta to play the pesky Bravos again, and then back into Charm City for three regular 'ol normal games against the Orioles. The third of which is scheduled for (holy schnikes!) July 1st.
It's nearly July, everyone. Where did the time go?
After one more game against the Zombie Expos (h/t Bill Simmons) tomorrow, featuring the 2009 debut of Secret Weapon(TM) John Smoltz, it's on to Hotlanta to play the pesky Bravos again, and then back into Charm City for three regular 'ol normal games against the Orioles. The third of which is scheduled for (holy schnikes!) July 1st.
It's nearly July, everyone. Where did the time go?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Game Seventy: Operation Interleague Continues
The Red Sox continued their odyssey in the Nation's Capital, where they took on the truly awful Washington Nationals. Actually tied at 3 through 7 innings, the Red Sox busted the door down with 1 in the 7th and 6 in the 8th to push out to an 11-3 win.
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