So no one has to ask.

In the two weeks of Christmas, these things happened

1) I got a 5% pay cut. Lost my 401K Matching. No bonus this year. NO raises this year.

2) My furnace died, which lead to my pipes freezing and breaking. I no longer have ceilings in a fourth of my home. My bed was destroyed as well as my uber remote and some other stuff.

3) While picking up the keys to my friends loft she is loaning me, a guy who just got off of working third shift, fell asleep at the wheel and rear ended my car. My car is most likely totaled.

Essentially I am thankful for my amazing friends who helped me through all of this bullshit, and kept me sane and drunk. Pat yourselves on the back. Now if we can NEVER talk about this again, that would be great.

A Nice Suprise

The other day I called Comcast trying to figure out if I would get the MLB network for free or if I was going to be forced to upgrade to some sort of sports package. They were not in the least bit helpful, and the women on the other end of the line had no clue what the MLB network was. I resigned myself to just have to wait till January 1 2009 to see what was going to happen.

Well, yesterday I am sitting at home flipping through the channels, and I notice that the channel space for the MLB network is already showing up. On a whim I decided to see if it was showing any info about what I would need to do to get the channel.

Low and behold they are already showing content, and the only commercials, are the ones for the network*. The first thing I see is about 2005 White Sox winning the world series. Now, this a slightly painful memory because the White Sox swept an injury depleted Red Sox team in the ALDS, but I was just happy to have baseball content. Well I watch a bit of this video, and head out for the night.

Well guess what's on when I get home? That's right kids, video about the 2004 Boston Red Sox. It was glorious moment. I watched the whole thing, and loved every minute. It was like a family reunion in some ways. I loved all of it.**

The long and the short is that I am very excited for the MLB network to kick of in earnest.


*sadly it's the same commercial over and over again, but whatever.

** Doug would have felt differently about this video

FYI

The Pedro The Lion song, "The Poison" is brilliant.

Gateway Tire and Battery

I am not a very picky person when it comes to customer service. I don't yell at sells people. I almost never get mad at servers who screw up my order, no matter how egregious the error may be. I am pretty laid back about this type of stuff. However, the fine folks at Gateway Tire and Battery have earned my scorn.

Never mind, their horrid web design, which while not as bad as The Baseball Writers Of America's website, is pretty terrible. The people at Gateway Tire, decided to do one of the worst repair jobs ever. They did not hook up my air filter back to the engine, and the broke the fuel injection throttle control. Good work guys. Epic Fail.

Quick note on the media

I was checking out the ESPN and there is a cartoon showing a red sox fan being very upset by the fact that the yankee's got CC Sabathia. Here's the thing, I don't know of a single Red Sox fan who is upset about the contract. I completely agree with Keith Law about how the contract shook out. It's a total downside play for the Yankee's. If he's healthy and good, there is no way he doesn't opt out, and if he isn't why would he leave? It makes no sense at all. I am totally fine with the contract, and I honestly believe that the Yankee's are quietly hoping that he opts out, and I bet my good friend Doug* agree's.


*update your damn blog

JBuilder 2007

I can't say this strongly enough, JBuilder 2007 is a completly and utter piece of crap. I know none of you code, and that's cool, but just know that I HATE JBuilder 2007.

XKCD is better then you

I do not enjoy when things hit this close to home.

A lesson learned over and over again

Drinking mid week is a horrible idea, and yet I continue to do it...

The Photos

My photo webserver is down. It should be up around 4:30 cst.

that is all.

Apropos of something

Maybe I am just one of those true believers, who refuses to give up on the dreams of youth, but I have yet to give up on melody.

I am an absentee father

Ok, not really, but still I have been slacking. I have had a few thoughts (and I will get to those later today I hope), but I just wanted to address something that was bothering me while I was watching TV this weekend. Can announcers and TV shows please stop saying "This broadcast is also available in STUNNING hi-def."

Don't we all basically assume it's being offered in hi-def, and that the only reason we are not watching in hi-def is that our provider* doesn't offer the channel or we simply don't have hi-def? Maybe I am crazy, but hi-def has been around long enough now, that I think we can stop pretending that it's ground breaking technology. I promise, that anyone who has hi-def checks their hi-def channels before they check all others.


*Though I hate hi-def channels that don't show stuff in hi-def. I am looking at you ABC family channel.

And then that happened

So I wasn't planing on writing anything at all. I was sitting in my cube pondering why two things that appear to be equal are claiming not to be equal. I was giving thoughts to the failing economy and what it would take for American car manufactures to win back my business, and then I saw this.

This has to be one of the worst things I have ever seen. People who become infected with a disese like HIV/AIDS should be treated as less then. They should be branded with a scarlet letter a for all the world to track from cyber space*. If this measure is allowed, where does it stop? This has to be one of the most slippery slopes I have ever imagined.



*yes i know all the world wouldn't be able to track them, but I won't let that get in the way of good hyperbole.

Project Managers vs Developers

The Project Manager vs The Developer is an age old battle. Both sides are wrong in some respects, and both sides are right. Though today, I heard one of the most telling differences. My project manager said, "I don't get this people who spend all their time figuring out all this weird computer stuff." My thought on that statement, "Umm...yeah I do. I mean this was my hobby before it became my job." I find it strange not understanding my someone wouldn't want to tackle computer problems. I mean at it's core, software development is nothing more then problem solving and logic puzzles. There's nothing wrong with that IMHO.

Charlie Kaufman

I love Charlie Kaufman. He is responsible for my favorite movie. I think he is easily one of the best big screen writers ever. He might even go down as one of the greatest writers ever when everything is said and done. However, I have to say that his new film left me feeling over whelmed and under whelmed simulataniously. I am not actually sure if that's possible mind you, but it is the only way I know how to sum up how the film left me feeling.

Synecdoche, New York is an amazingly ambitious film, and is hands down the single most meta film I have ever come across*. The film was incredibly hard to follow, and had that trade mark Kaufman style of everything is now and nothing is now at the same time. The passage of time was very hard to follow. Normally I like this kind of thing, but this time it just seemed to drag, and at times bore me a little bit.

Part of me feels that Kaufman should always just get Spike Jones or Michel Gondry to direct all of his films. I agree with what Kurt Loader has to say on the outcome of Kaufman's directorial debut, "The result is a picture that is (a) brilliant, in scattered parts, but also (b) a reminder that virtually every writer needs an editor."

I suppose I could have saved some time and simply written this, "Everyone should see Synecdoche, New York once, and once only. It is a film of true beauty and ambition, that never ever (under any circumstances) needs to be seen again. It wholly depressing and bleak, and leaves you feeling numb."


*I am not all that into uber meta films. I am sure more meta films exist. I am also sure that I don't want to see them

Just a quick question

If it only matters what a baseball player does in September (ala Ryan Howard), then why does it matter that Chase Utley is going to be out the first two months of the season? I mean this doesn't jive with a great deal of the rhetoric I have been reading about the MVP.

Oh wait...that's right those games in the first two months of the season count as well? Oh wait...Utley is their best position player? Man...that could be a problem then. Good thing they have two other players who have won MVP's even though Utley hasn't won one.

Arrays

I don't ask much, but can every computer language please begin array indexing from zero? Please? It's a huge PITA to remember which one's don't.

Ironic?

Do we all remember John Rocker? Well if you don't he was the baseball pitcher who gave one of the single most hate laden interviews of the past 20 years. It was epic. People wanted him kicked out of the game for this interview.

Well, one of my favorite blogs posted a quick little aside today saying that if you search for Monica Lewinsky and CC Sabathia, that one of his ESPN columns would show up. Which in fact happens, but funnier that is this photo of John Rocker that turns up under the image results.

See I really wish I had a large readership

Not really, but if you could encourge your friends (all two of you who may see this) to post what your favorite underrated* Cure song is, I would be greatful.

For me I gotta say it's Jupiter Crash off of Wild Mood Swings

*I think my friend Andrew may on the copy right on wondering if things are over or under rated. If so, please forgive me.

I really am working a lot today

No I swear. I know I am usually pretty tounge and cheek, but I am getting a lot done. I just wanted to say that my iPod is on FIRE today. I just heard, A Day in Black and White followed by Yage followed by Yaphet Kotto solid work Mr. iPod. I salute you. Even though I think your company is evil and values style over substance.*

*Did you really think I wouldn't get a dig in?

In Reverse Honor of Boswell

Yesterday Tom Boswell wrote what can only be describe as the lunatic ramblings of a man completely out of touch. I have an easier time saying this then most of my favorite writers, because I didn't grow up reading and idolizing the guy. I respect everything that he has contributed, but I don't hold him in the same kind of esteem.

The biggest take away quote from the whole thing is the line When stats WILDLY contradict common sense, always doubt the stats.

This is a rather crazy concept to me, since I certainly tend to rely on objective analysis. I do this because I like numbers, and I simply do not know nearly enough about scouting to do it any other way.

Well, all year I have been claiming that John Lester was superior to Daisuke Matsuzaka. I still in my heart of hearts believe this. I watched both guys pitch all year and I firmly believe that Matsuzaka was REALLY lucky with runnners on base. His strand rate bares this out, but after reviewing the numbers it's not nearly as clearly cut as you would think. Yes, this smacks in the face of everything I said in earlier post. In essence, I still think my common sense is right, but I am forced to accept the possiblity that maybe my common sense is biased.

Something They Don't Tell You in College

As a software developer there are tons of little perks that you don't know about until you get the job. One such perk just occurred a moment ago. See a large number of developers are not from America, so you occasionally luck into some amazing "exotic"* foods. One of my co-workers just brought by this flat bread with a tomato, beef, and sausage mixture on it. It wasn't like pizza really because the bread was so different and the meat mixture unlike much of anything I have ever had. God Bless the nerds who can cook.


*Nothing really exotic about this one today, but it was fairly traditional, and often times we have work pot lucks, and the Indian guys in my office NEVER disappoint.

My blood is a boiling

I don't read /. (pronounced slash dot for the newbs) very often anymore. In fact I can very long stretches of time without reading it. However this morning I decided to swing by the ole /. and I saw that my state passed this idiotic law

I wish to very clear in my next statement: This is a completely and utterly idiotic thing to do. I use to work for one of the fine institutions of higher education in this state, and the people charged with policing this kind of stuff were far and away the most corrupt people on campus. I knew of not one, not two, but three servers with terabytes of free movies hosted off of the campus back bone. This is one of the dumbest things ever. Also, I think of way better ways for my state to spend this kind of money.

Point of Order

1) Pelican was amazing
2) I am really bad guitar player
3) I have no idea how to get a good guitar sound
4) I am so tired that I have no idea how I am going to stay away awake today

The Down Side of Aging

So today is my 29th birthday, and I am somewhat amazed how quickly a few things in my life have changed. See this band called Pelican is playing tonight. They are really good, and super nice guys (meet them last time they were here.)However I am not sure if I am going to go to the show. Somewhere the 16-24 year old version of myself is thinking, "How the hell is this even a debate? You once drove to Michigan just to see The Swarm's final show. You drove to Nashville and back in snow storm just to see Sunny Day Realestate. What in the world is the problem?"

Now here is the problem. I know I am still uber young, but I don't recover from all nighter's seeing rock and roll as well as I use to. I don't handle drinking till 2 AM or 3 AM and waking up at 6:30 as well as I use to. Oh wait...I just remembered something, I am not a huge sissy. I will suck it up and see Pelican tonight. So yeah...you should be there too.

Damn it

See, I told myself I wasn't going to care about any sports until baseball season started back up. I knew my VOLS would be bad(not this bad), and I didn't have high hopes for my Titans or Grizz, but now I am sucked in and watching every game. Well, not VOLS games. They are not on TV lately and they are just so damn painful.

The Grizz are looking like a shockingly frisky team. Playing teams tough on the road, and handling things at home. I don't think we crack the 30 win mark, but I do see us beating the Vegas line of 23. I know Bill Simmons dislikes that we keep getting all these "Blue Chip" players, but we actually have a good core, and if we can some how build ourselves up like a small market baseball team would, then we have a real shot.

My Latest Battle

I think I finally got my ACPI settings to behave on my server. What's that mean to you? It means photos are now online. That is by no means all of them. The rest should be up this weekend. The albums need some rearranging, and I leave in even the bad shots, but they are there now for better or worse.

In Honor of Jerry Orbach

I was terrified this entire election process that Obama would lose. Not because he wasn't the better candadite, but solely because he is black. I was racked with fear that America is as backward a place as it is often portrayed. However, it seems I was wrong (this time), and in the spirit of Jerry Orbach, "When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong."

Now with less rage

Yeah...I wasn't pleased last week when I found out about my voter registration... You can probably tell. I will be swinging by the poles tomorrow to try and vote anyways.

It seems a member of the Descendents passed away on Halloween. I was never a huge fan of the band, and this doesn't hit me nearly as hard as the death of Lance from J Church, but the band was crucial. I was just thinking of them this weekend in fact. I was watching Pump of the Volume, and I saw the sceen where he plays a Descendents song. It made me smile a bit.

This is high comedy

Thanks to my voter registration not being processed, this could happen:

A shoutout

I would just like to extend my most sincere fuck you to the fine voter registration folks here in TN, who saw fit not to process my registration form. Thanks assholes, thanks.

Out and Out theft.

I saw the video below on Jonah Keri's blog. He is a brilliant sports writer, and he also writes about the economy. He's great, and you should read him. He's also an uber cool lefty liberal Canadian. He posted this video, and I gotta say it scares the hell out of me.

Lighter and Fluffier

My friend Danielle and I were discussing various random topics at the bar last evening, when we stumbled upon the the idea of graduation rates. There was a somewhat meaningful discussion on the topic, but the idea that interested me most was when we discussed the adverse effects that giving a damn about Independent Music can have on your college carer.

I have several friends who did not finish school. I am convinced a lot of this due to the "Punk Rock" life style.* See when you decided it's a good idea to drive 6-8 hours to go see some band play in another city, and then hop in your car directly after the show and drive that same 6-8 hours back, and then for reasons that boggle the mind, attempt to go to class, well...let's just say you didn't put yourself in a position to succeed.

I must have spent half of my college carer tired beyond all belief because of rock and roll. If I wasn't out of town at a show, I was certainly at one in town. I didn't even start drinking till I was almost 23.**

Maybe Punk rock will be the actual down fall of our society.




*Really it was more of a Math Rock/Screamie Hardcore life style, but who's counting?

** I am convinced if I had started sooner, then I would have never graduated.

A mild response.

My Friend FearlessVk wrote a blog on a recent experience in Texas that can only be described as revolting. However, I can't say I exactly feel the same as her on what transpired.

I honestly prefer this type of racism. For however disgusting I may find those people, I know EXACTLY where they stand. I don't have to worry about them stabbing me in the back, because they would gladly stab me in the face, and in a weird sort of way that is comfort.

When I know that someone despise me for a silly reason (instead of the countless good ones) it amuses me. I have nothing to prove to this people and zero interest in changing their minds. They come to this way of life, probably because of their family, and that's just way it's going to be.

No, the people I hate are the oblivious or sneaky racists, who are to ashamed to let their backward ass feelings be known. The kind of person who will gladly smile to your face while quietly cutting a hole in the floor for you to fall through. The kind who don't realize just how fucked up a statement like, "You are the whitest black man I have ever known" is. The kind of people who are actually amazed by the idea that where you grow up has way more to do with how you turn out then your race. They kind of idiots who really thought that if you took Africans to Europe thinking that their skin tone would change under European skies. These are the bastards who get my blood a boiling. The other people are (most likely) purely a tragic tale of not being given a chance to know better.

I have a brilliant friend

Her name is Julia. She helped write this. You should read it.

Reading

I just got done reading a very long article on Senator John McCain. It made me remember this quote

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your governmant when it deserves it.

~Mark Twain

Here is the article.

Hold your horses

I have more to say later, but can we please for the next 5-6 months ban the use of the phrase "Main Street" and the word "Maverick?" These assholes have ruined the movie Top Gun forever. Fuck them.

How Clever We Are

I went to a bar downtown Friday night to watch the presidential debate with some friends. Over all it was a very solid time. Their were a few different groups their having sign ups. Over all I think these are good things, but here is what I don't get.

As we were leaving one of the fellows who attempted to get Doug and I to sign up for his group turned out to be a friend of a friend. He said something to the effect of, "Oh yeah I was annoying those two guys earlier." In reality Doug and I were not annoyed so much as we were in a bar and we were without drinks. This is not a situation we handle well, and we were trying to plot out the best course of action to remedy this problem. The guy was plenty nice enough, but nothing he could have said would have gotten me to join his group. I simply don't do that sort of thing. Well, after his statement about annoying Doug and I, he said he was upset because he didn't hit his quota for annoying people that evening. This can be taken one of two ways I believe.

1) He meant it in a weird sort of, I need to get more people involved, way

2) He really took pleasure in hosting his beliefs on others.


I really hope it was one and not two, but my gut says it was two.

I am only saying this once.

People keep mentioning Matsuaka as a Cy Young candidate. Let me be very clear. He is not even the Cy Young of the staff. It's John Lester.


Lester's inning pitched: 210.3
Matsuzaka's innings pitched: 167.7

Lester's WHIP: 1.27
Matsuzaka's WHIP: 1.32

Lesters's BABIP: .302
Matsuzaka's BABIP: .262

Lester's K's: 152
Matsuzaka's K's: 154

Lester's OBP Against: .320
Matsuzaka's OBP Against: .321

They each have 15 Win Shares. I am betting this is inflated b/c of the wins.

NASCAR

When my grand kids ask me why I dislike NASCAR, I will direct them to this image.

So I watched her speech.

So I just watched Sarah Palin's speech from the other night. Sadly she didn't hit on the themes I mentioned earlier, but she did hit on some themes I found interesting.

1) "The troops have brought victory within sight" It would seem you need something as powerful as the Huble Telescope to be able to see it, but I suppose that is within sight.

2) "Special needs family's needing America to be more welcoming to their sons and daughters have an addvicate in Washington will have one." Here's my question, what if you need America to be more accepting of your gay son or daughter? Will she still be there for them? My gut says no.

3) She also implied that it's not ok to praise the working class for their what they bring to the table while still wanting to increase gun control. (She also made some point on religion that just didn't make sense) I guess what I want to know, is it not ok to disagree with people you respect?

4)She want's to drill the SPR. She's nuts. (yes this is dismissive and unkind, but it's also true)

5) She implied that wanting to heal the planet is a bad thing. Yeah...the EPA is gonna LOVE her.

6) She implied that it's a bad thing that Obama wants to respect the rights of people captured during the war on terror. How exactly is this a bad thing? Note: McCain isn't even against this.

Just my idle thoughts.

A few days late

I have no clue what Sarah Palin's stance on sex education or handing out condoms in schools is, but if she's in the abstinence only camp, then wouldn't she be a glaring example of how that doesn't work? Again I don't know if she is or isn't, but sadly I hope she is if only to show how silly that is.

Note: I really hope she brought her daughter b/c she wanted to show that she loves her kid, and is in no way ashamed of her.

The Simple Pleasures

I am sitting here listening to music on the ole iPod via some head phones, and I am reminded of one the simplest pleasures in life. Hearing guitar and bass parts in a more clear and distinct way b/c the music is about .2 inches from your ears. It's a true joy.

*side note: Ear buds suck*
(you didn't think this was gonna be all posi did you? Oh you did? You must be new here.)

Um...

I am honestly at a loss for words about this. I mean I know tons of guys who do drugs and play video games. I mean...let's be honest here the two kind of go hand in hand for a certain set of folks, but really doing drugs before a comp to get an edge? I mean I guess if you are always playing stoned then it's best to keep things status quo, but good lord this is funny.

A New Segment

I have been going through the process (again) of trying to convert my music collection to MP3*. This process has led me to rediscover some bands I forgot about. See if I don't have the artist on record I have most likely have not really paid them much attention in the last few years. My records tend to represent my music tastes today better then my cd's. However, this morning I rediscovered Six Going On Seven, and I got say I forgot how great the first CD is. I am going to have to pick up the second LP.

Cheers

Quick aside, yes I know I should use OGG, yes I know I can put a different OS on my iPod so that it can play ogg. No, I don't feel like doing ANY of these things.

It's Alive

It seems that my iPod felt bad for dying on me so it decided to come back to life. Sadly I had already bought a new iPod. Luckily I was able to sell it to a co-worker for full value. So everyone's happy.

Well yeah...

I know I talk mad shit about apple on a VERY regular basis (and I mean every word by the way), but my iPod gave up the ghost yesterday. I am not at all pleased by this. See I use to have crap tons (a plethora if you will) of tapes in my car before the ole iPod. Well once I got the iPod I got rid of the tapes, and there is no telling what's in the cd changer. This is a sad day. I will gladly take donations for a new 160 gig iPod. Also the big loser in this event is Danny. See he didn't know this, but I was going to give him my 80 Gig for Christmas and buy a 160. Sadly that is no longer an option.

A Pet Peeve

If your going to upload album info to a site that MP3 encoder programs use (and God bless those of you who do), can we please agree to abide by some simple rules so that an ID3 tag reader can deal with them.

1) If you capitalize things such as: The, A, An, and Of it doesn't matter. most programs are smart enough to over come this. So keep on keeping on.

2) If you input the band name ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead with the ellipsis', it's fine. Most programs can over come this.

3) If you input Boy Sets Fire as "BOYSETSFIRE", your an asshole.

4) If you input The Red Scare as "Red Scare, The", your an asshole.

Thanks for your time.

Just My Opinion

Any time these two guys are facing each other, it's must watch TV. Their pitching mechanics look similar on the surface but they are actually rather different, but God Damn I love watching them pitch.

Timmy



Roy Boy

Things that I ponder

I was listening to a recent (and by recent I mean 5 or 7 years old) Hot Water Music album today, and I realized something. You know a band has given up the ghost, when their records start to sound even remotely bar rock. Just go ahead an accept that the good times are over.

B/c your the only people who I can share this with

I really can't stop listening to Verse En Coma. I really would like it if you listened to them too.

B/c I have not said anything that my friends disagree with lately

The song Kid A by Radio sucks donkey balls.

Pretty Please...

Could ladies stop getting mad at me for calling them "mam?" You could be 8 to 80, blind cripple, crazy, and I am still going to call you Mam. It's just how it is. It isn't reflection of your age as much as it's part of the Eddie Haskell up bringing I was given. Actually my family was nothing like theirs, but it's part of my up bringing, so deal with it.

Why I kind of hate Apple Inc.

Dumb statements like this

"And like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one — a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser"

So how many devices is a computer? How many devices is my DVR? How many devices is this guy?

Or this one?

Or the one I would support.

(This blog brought to you by cranky old man)

Well...it's actually about Baseball

So I was reading a baseball blog, and the writer put up a quote about clutch hitting. I feel this quote has many uses. Let's all try and work it into our daily lives:

"Why believe in something whose existence can objectively be determined to be unprovable?"

cheers

Just wondering

The other day a friend of mine was talking about how his wife didn't like the idea of sending their kids to public school. She had a myriad of reasons, but the one that struck me as the most curious was the teaching of evolution. His argument was some what reasonable. He said that you send the kids to school, let them learn it and then when they come home, you simply inform them of your beliefs. So far so god, but here's the part that struck me. He said, "...you tell them that we believe in the Bible and that evolution hasn't been proven anyways."

All this leads me to my question. At what point do we start treating people who deny the idea of evolution as if they are members of The Flat Earth Society? Just curious.

Showbiz

I call it Showbiz, b/c frankly that's what it was called when I was a kid. There wasn't any of this Chucky Cheese B.S. being shown to the kids. I am certain the name change was for a valid reason, but it always seemed odd to me. Though none of the preceding is why I am writing.

No that reason is far, far more creepy. How I never found the animatronic (fuck you google, it's a word) puppets at Showbiz disturbing is beyond me. I mean you had singing, dancing, and instrument playing woodland creatures. No wonder so many of my friends turned to drugs. I mean after seeing that kind of crap in your formative years you would be freaked out as well. Now comes this...

Often times I hear Memphians and none-Memphians complain about this city and talk about "Real Culture." This comic kind of reminds me of every time I have been drug kicking and screaming into said conversation.




p.s. This animation was inspired by this comic, by this guy.

It's Back (Things Overheard at Work)

"Man...it's bad enough that we let women drive, but once we give them a cell phone..."

The story continued on with some more lovely misogyny. Something tells me he won't be voting for Hillary.

Two Posts in One Day

Yet again Joe Sheehan says it better then I'll ever say it.

When Manny Ramirez hits his 500th home run, I’ll cheer. I won’t be cheering just a round number; I’ll be cheering a man who has made baseball fun to watch, and whose talents I have enjoyed for more than a decade. When Ken Griffey Jr. rakes number 600, I will do the same, again appreciating not a moment, but all the moments that led up to this one. Don’t get caught up in the “00”; get caught up in a game that gives us such wonderful talents to appreciate.

You should really be reading Baseball Prospectus. A stat heavy website with a ton of heart.


This distance from me to you, and this thin line just won't reach

Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull

Is it odd that the least preposterous thing in the whole move were the aliens? I mean I knew about them going in, and figured, that no way could this film be good, and it wasn't. However, I was not prepared for them to be more believable then damn near everything else in the film.


"...and we only steal from the greatest books..."

Back at work

I have been off work the past 4 days, and it was glorious. I have had this really strange nagging feeling the whole, day, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I think a Hellbender song just summed it up, "Reduce the world to a six inch space, right in front of your face, and you can be the king of everything that you survey."

I don't have any clue how that actually applies to my day, but some how it felt about right. Of course it could have to do with the 20 amateur coding mistakes I have made today.

For those scoring at home Hellbender is a pretty poppy band who later formed bands such as Milemarker, Challenger, and some other stuff.

Less yelling more singing

I do not do a good job paying enough lip services to the bands I love who do not scream their heads off. I am sorry about that. Care if I try and fix it a little bit? Would that be ok with you?

Pinback


The American Analog Set


Des Ark


The Softies

I Offer With Coment

Everyday it feels like another piece of my childhood is sold off to the lowest bidder. It seems today is no different.

I don't care if it's over the top

I love the pedro the line lyric, "My old man always swore that hell would have no flames. Just a front row seat to watch your true love pack her things, and drive away."

I mostly like it, b/c he's about the only musician who sings about the Jeebus, who doesn't turn my stomach.

Never Forget

Sleepytime Trio was a force to be feared. I forgot that for about 3 minutes today. I hope not to make that mistake again.



This band later formed
Engine Down
Denali
Milemarker
Bats and Mice
The Rah Brahs
and a bunch of other stuff.

They rule. You should like so that I can like you.

Oh the decadence

I just bought my first digital cameras. I feel both amazingly excited and shitty at the same time. I am not exactly sure why...

Race and Baseball

I won't do this subject justice. My opinions on it are deep and complex, but I am going to try and hit this at a very High level. For a good representation of how I feel about this subject check out Joe Sheehan's article over at Baseball Prospectus.

The other day, my least favorite number of the year was released. The number in question is the percentage of African Americans* playing baseball at the Major League Level. 8.2%. They take this number and say that is how "integrated" baseball is at the moment. By just throwing this number out there like this I think they miss some low hanging fruit.

1) The game has people from every corner of the globe playing right now. Why should we focus on just African Americans to show how "integrated" we are?

2) This number does not count any of the people from Latin America who look just as black as I do. So if this about kids looking at the TV and seeing someone who looks like them, were covered.

3) Can we pay attention to the huge influx of Asian baseball players for a minute? I mean tons of guys are coming over and playing amazing (other then Hideki Irabu).

4) Major league baseball does untold levels of pandering out of guilt they shouldn't feel in the first place. I mean I go to the Civil Rights Game every year. Not because it's the "Civil Rights Game", but because I LOVE baseball.

5) Wanna know the two main reasons baseball isn't as popular among African Americans? Ok here ya go

a) If you get to the college level at a reputable school in Basketball or Football, it's a much clearer path to the pro's then in Baseball.

b) Most of the demographic they are talking about live in very densely populated area's that do not have space for a baseball Diamond, and even if they do, you need 18 people to play a
game and tons of equipment.

In short this a phantom issue. Just like it's a phantom issue that White kids can't play basketball. If you have game, you have game. That's it. If you can play, and are willing to work for it then you can do it.

*note: I really really hate the term African American. I am Black (ok really I'm brown). I have never been to Africa, and I have no real intentions of going there. The only people I know who have been there are White. Am I really more African American then some lighter skinned fellow from Egypt? (thanks to Joe P. for the posterik idea)

Cross Posting

I have blog up over at Up Up Down Down. It's about girls and sun glasses. It's nothing if not offensive to tons of people I know. Check it. Hey did you know I came up with the name of that blog? No? I sure did.


"If I swallow something evil stick your fingers down my throat."

Things Over Heard At Work.

"My gay uncle is the one who gave me all the money..."
"He's dead now though."
"So I am going to use the money to pay down some debts and invest in some stocks."

---snip---

"Man I hope it's a lot of money."

Rea

(10:35:53 AM) Me: Portishead owns you
(10:36:34 AM) pat: i don't know what that means
(10:36:46 AM) Me: it means that Portishead owns you
(10:36:51 AM) Me: ya "Dummy"
(10:37:12 AM) pat: haha
(10:37:21 AM) Me: i assume you get it now?
(10:37:37 AM) pat: not really
(10:37:42 AM) Me: the band Portishead
(10:37:44 AM) pat: right
(10:37:47 AM) Me: they have a record called dummy
(10:37:49 AM) pat: right
(10:38:15 AM) Me: that's really it. nothing to deep. just my strange way of saying they are great and better then you (or I for that matter). Hence they own you
(10:38:25 AM) Me: they can't own me though. there is amendment against it
(10:38:29 AM) Me: SUCKS TO BE YOU
(10:38:58 AM) pat: billy joel owns you
(10:39:05 AM) Me: Not even a little bit

Some Idle thoughts

I was just reading the news and saw that what's happening in Kenya is in fact "Ethnic Cleansing" and not genocide. Exactly how is that suppose to make me feel? Should I feel relieved? Am I suppose to think, "Whew...thank god...if it was genocide we should do something about that." I don't get it...

As for the Johan Santana trade my main reaction was, "Thank god we didn't get him. Thank god the Yankee's didn't get him. God Bless Bill Smith for trading him to the NL."

This will be the best youtube vide you see this year.

Sorry about not being able to embed the video, but I really didn't feel like figuring it out.

Building on our new love of commercials

This was brought to my attention by Safeguy

That's right. Two Posts before 9!

Though I am cheating. Sony TV's are WAY over priced, but damn it if the commercials are not great.





And this is a solid joke about the previous ads.

I mean wow...just...wow...

I get that not everyone is into sports. I don't agree with the logic most of the time, but I get it. However if your not in to sports please don't ask me questions like this, "Hey, is Super Bowl Monday this coming Monday?"

The Super Bowl has been on Sunday's since the earth cooled.

A struggle

I have yet figured out how to write about it, but please believe me when I tell you that baseball is the new Indie Rock. I know this sounds nuts and all but there is so much stuff going on in the "under ground" of baseball. I mean tons and tons of great writers who will get little to no main stream love, but keep plucking away and doing it because they love it. Every so often one of them makes it big, or a guy who already made it big becomes influenced by what's happening in the under ground and gives the main stream a taste. It's an amazing time to be a baseball fan. I shall now link to some of my favorite sites.

Baseball Prospectus
Stats oh glorious stats. Also some of the best writing out there.

Baseball Analysts
A rotating cast ever writers with some of the best forums out there.

Baseball Think Factory
An news aggregate of sorts. It's great for finding stuff you may not normally read.

Joe Posnanski
Not always about baseball, but mostly. He is easily one the best writers around.

The Dish
Personal Blog of ESPN's Kieth Law. You might find baseball hall of fame talk. You might find reviews of Jane Austin Books. You might see a review of great places to eat across America. You never know, and that's why it's great.

On Politics

A friend sent me the video footage of Obam's speech from last night. Frankly I don't even know what to say about it. I mean it was good and more or less inspiring. Yet I still feel almost no connection to this political season. I dunno I think something is clearly wrong with me.


Here's the speech, and it is very much a winner.

Another Year and still no top 10

I wrote about this either last year or the year before (man I have to quit drinking), but I have not been able to put together a 10 ten records of the year for some time now. I don't really have any friends whose music taste merges well with mine so I find out less about fewer new bands every year. So I shall simply drop some names of bands who did it for me this year who did not do it for me in years past.

Shokei
Kids Explode
Rats on Radar
Verse En Coma
End of a Year
Caretta Caretta

Some bands who I bought new stuff (read possible old stuff) by that rocked it.

Des Ark
J Church
Life At These Speeds

I am sure there are WAY more, but I am lazy and not in the mood to remember them.

cheers.