Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Someone broke into Pat Burns' widow's car DURING HIS FUNERAL and stole his wallet. Remember that Pat Burns is a former Montreal policeman - there will be blood in this case.

- Leslie Nielsen random quote generator

- Winner of this year's "Bad Sex Award" for worst sexual description in literature. Too bad the word "mallemaroking" was not involved.

- You can't own the Sun - if I was to try for ownership of a celestial body - I'd go for the moon because it is very close to us

- Awesome awesomeness - LEGO beer song

- 5 Reasons the Greatest Movie Villain Ever is the "Good Witch" from The Wizard of Oz

Mariner's Revenge LEGO Version

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The Cortland Finnegan vs Andre Johnson "fight" reminded me very much of Robert Parish's takedown of Bill Laimbeer back in the 80's. Parish had enough of Laimbeer's cheap play and just hammered him down. If I recall correctly Parish was fined $1,500 for his actions and had lots of players across the league volunteer to pay the fine. I'm guessing that Johnson will likewise have such volunteers... 5 Geniuses Who Renounced Their Work... Osmium is a member of the platinum family and is the densest element. The second densest element is sports talk radio discussions regarding Derek Jeter signing with the Red Sox... Who knew? Great Britain was once the world champion at ice hockey. They won the Gold Medal at the 1936 Winter Olympics... I'm not a big Sarah Palin fan but what I find amusing is that many of the anti-Palin people are the very same ones who supported John Edwards...

Interesting Player Comparison

This is a Player Comparison I've done before but I thought worthy of another look:

Player A - .324 BA/ 1270 R/ 333 HR/ 1239 RBI/ .979 OPS/ 137 OPS+
Player B - .305 BA/ 1583 R/ 317 HR/ 1595 RBI/ .857 OPS/ 135 OPS+

Just looking at the comparison makes you think that the players are fairly close in offensive skills. It should be noted that Player A has won 3 Gold Gloves while Player B won just one.

Have you figured it out? Player A is Todd Helton while Player B is George Brett.

Helton may be the most under-rated player of this generation. Many people credit his numbers to playing at Coors Field but consider this - Helton's career road OPS is higher (.873 to .857) than Brett's overall career OPS.

Very Cool



While My Guitar Gently Weeps on the ukulele. Very cool.

The Sexy Pilgrim

There are so few Thanksgiving videos - I thought I'd share this one.

You're welcome.

As God as My Witness...

Just not Thanksgiving without this classic TV clip.

Philosoraptor



I got a kick out of these.

Thanksgiving Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!!!... I don't know why I thought of this but is part of I-70 in St. Louis still designated as the Mark McGwire Highway or did people come to their senses? I'm curious about that... Heh heh - all your base... Now that San Francisco has re-signed Aubrey Huff - it will be interesting to see what happens with Giants uber prospect Brandon Belt who has posted better minor league numbers than Buster Posey. I could easily see Belt being a mid-season callup and the Giants moving Huff to the outfield or maybe even 3rd if Kung Fu Panda continues his struggles... Daniel Radcliffe is Harry Potter... I did not see signing Victor Martinez or Adrian Beltre as the main priority for Boston this offseason. I think the Red Sox main priority this offseason should be signing Clay Buchholz to a longterm deal. Yes he has a few more arbitration years available but if he puts up one more season like 2009 (which I think he will) then it will be better for the team longterm to wrap him up now... "It is proposed that happiness be classified as a psychiatric disorder: Major affective disorder, pleasant type"... Just for the heck of it - I did a three-team 10-point tease on the three NFL games today. Just seemed right and now I won't have to worry about doing anything else all day...

Curt Schilling

Below is a comparison I made in the past and thought I'd repost regarding Curt Schilling and the Hall of Fame.

Player A - Season 1 - 22-9 / 2.40 ERA / 156 ERA+ / 158 SO
Player B - Season 1 - 22-6 / 2.98 ERA / 157 ERA+ / 293 SO

Player A - Season 2 - 23-11 / 2.09 ERA / 169 ERA+ / 193 SO
Player B - Season 2 - 23-7 / 3.23 ERA / 142 ERA + / 316 SO

Player A - Season 3 - 22-13 / 2.51 ERA / 130 ERA+ / 159 SO
Player B - Season 3 - 21-6 / 3.26 ERA / 150 ERA+ / 203 SO

Player A is Jim Palmer and the seasons are the three seasons he won the AL Cy Young Award in a four year stretch. Player B is Curt Schilling and the seasons are the years he came in second in Cy Young voting three years out of four from 2001 to 2004. It can be argued that Schilling's seasons were every bit as impressive as the seasons in which Palmer won his Cy Young Awards. It was Schilling's bad luck to have to compete with first Randy Johnson and then Johan Santana. Just one Cy Young from one of those years probably would have cinched the vote for Schilling for the Hall of Fame.

Just saying.

Just Saying

Here's a QB player comparison worth mentioning:

Player A: 3,023 Yards / 17 TD / 6 INT / 26 Sacks / 94.5 Rating
Player B: 2,064 Yards / 12 TD / 10 INT / 33 Sacks / 84.3 Rating

Player A is Kyle Orton while Player B is Jay Cutler (who has also played one less game this season). I point out this comparison because I firmly believe Jay Cutler is vastly over-rated and I also believe that if he was still in Denver there would be no end to his world-revolves-around-me whining and complaining.

Victor Martinez

So Victor Martinez has signed with the Tigers for 4-years and $50 million. Supposedly the Red Sox offered 3-years $36 million or 4-years $42 million. I don't blame Victor for taking the bigger offer from the Tigers nor do I blame the Red Sox for not matching the offer.

At the 2009 trading deadline - Martínez was traded from the Indians to the Red Sox for Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price. The Red Sox gave up some pretty good prospects (Masterson for whatever reason hasn't blossomed in Cleveland) and in exchange they got 1.5 years of Martinez and now they will also get two top daft packs (Detroit's 1st round and a sandwich pick). You can hardly quibble with this deal from Boston's perspective. If they overpaid what they thought Martinez would be worth 4-years from now (and have foregone the compensatory picks in the process)- then fans would have a gripe.

At this point it looks like Jarrod Saltalamacchia could be the starter at catcher and maybe Jed Lowrie at 3rd for Adrian Beltre. I know that won't be popular with the average fan but the truth is those changes won't result in that much of an offensive drop-off. It really won't.

Vaya con Dios Victor. Thanks for the memories.

Richard Seymour

Richard Seymour has been fined $25,000 for "fighting". What really happened was Ben Roethlisberger ran up to Seymour to chirp right after the Steelers scored a TD on the Raiders. Seymour then popped "Big Ben" who was dropped to the ground by the blow and who then cowered like a little girl.

How funny would it be if NOW paid Richard Seymour's fine?

The long and the short of this is Roethlisberger started a confrontation and Seymour finished it in no uncertain terms. The most telling thing is that none of Rapelisberger's teammates came to his defense. Seymour just waltzed off the field. If that happened to Tom Brady the Patriot's bench would have emptied.

Put Joe Biden in the Movie Title

I amused myself by replacing part of some of the greatest movie titles of all-time with Joe Biden. Some of these movies actually should be made:

- The Good, the Bad and the Joe Biden
- The Silence of the Joe Biden
- Forrest Gump
- Joe Biden 2: Judgement Day
- Joe Biden of Arabia
- Eternal Sunshine of the Joe Biden
- Joe Biden: A Space Odyssey
- Inglorious Joe Bidens
- Mr. Joe Biden Goes to Washington
- Cool Hand Joe Biden

Nobody Messes with the Joe Biden

He was Vice President of the United States but he faked his own death so that he could re-emerge in New York City as a hair stylist. He's silky, smooth and harder than trigonometry!

Coming in 2011 - Nobody Messes with the Joe Biden!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Heh heh - Evolution of Man

- Taiwanese animated report on USA outrage of TSA screenings

- Very interesting article on Hollywood director Tom Shadyac who gave away his wealth

- Un-fricken-believable - In Washington state, playing online poker carries the same punishment as child molestation.

- My respect for Tony Danza just went up tenfold

- Coco Crisp is "looking for a live-in personal assistant (female)"

TSA FUBAR

I'm trying to decide if the new TSA rules are funny, sad, or just disgusting.

My first thought was that this was some sort of genius marketing ploy by the folks at Amtrak to get people start taking the train instead of flying. And I laughed at the idea of getting a happy ending before boarding a flight (before realizing the pat downs are same sex).

My second thought was that this was just another example of government over-reach and being out of touch (or in this case grossly touchy). Has nobody head of illegal search and seizure? Groping of nuns and children helps security in what manner? How can the government pass such measures in this country? How can they be so clueless? Then I remembered who we actually have in office.

My third thought was that this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Especially when you read that these machines may have been part of a pork deal brokered by an ex-government lobbyist.

The former Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, represents Rapiscan, the company which is selling these scanners to his former department.

If you're not disgusted by the situation by now - you are not paying attention. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. Chertoff is a Republican and Janet Napolitano is a Democrat. They both should be tarred and feathered.

My only silver-lining is remeberance of this quote:

"The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.” Abraham Lincoln

This situation should be short lived. Until then - I refuse to fly. I'll drive or take the train. So help me God.

Heh Heh



I mentioned One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest the other day and it reminded me of this. This is funny and sad at the same time.

Four Green Fields



One of the prettiest songs ever sung in the English language.

50 States, 50 Movies

This really got me thinking - two maps of the 50 states with a movie assigned to each state. I don't have time to do a full map but I will note a few states where I think the authors missed the mark:

- New York - neither map has The Godfather as the movie for the state. Taxi Driver and Annie Hall? Please.
- Ditto The Godfather Part II for Nevada. Oceans Eleven and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas are fine movies but The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are Americana classics.
- Poor Oregon - the maps have The Goonies and Kindergarten Cop as the choices. I would suggest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I don't think the movie actually spells out the location but I'm pretty sure the book was based in Oregon.
- California is saddled with The Karate Kid and Fast Times at Ridgemount High but at the least I'd suggest either Pulp Fiction or LA Confidential.
- Didn't Fight Club take place in Michigan? Why do they get RoboCop and Roger & Me instead?
- Did you know off the top of your head that Dances with Wolves took place in South Dakota? When you see Mount Rushmore do you think of Cary Grant in North by Northwest? That's what I thought.
- Choosing My Cousin Vinnie is an insult to Alabama. I'm OK with To Kill a Mockingbird but I think Forrest Gump is more identifiable with the state.
- Didn't Cool Hand Luke take place in Louisiana?
- Groundhog Day is OK for Pennsylvania but if I lived there I'd rather be associated with either Slap Shot or The Deer Hunter or Rocky.
- What movie is more identifiable with Oklahoma than Oklahoma?
- I'd go with Mystic Pizza for Connecticut.
- Rocket Boys for West Viginia? Never heard of it. How about Coal Miner's Daughter?
- Blues Brothers for Illinois? OK but how about The Untouchables or The Fugitive not to mention Ferris Bueller's Day Off?
- I have a problem with True Grit as the movie for Arkansas. Though the book was based in Arkansas the movie was shot in Arizona (or New Mexico). Maybe the new movie will be true to the original geography but until I see it I'm going to suggest Primary Colors.
- Gone with the Wind for Georgia. Is there even a question?

The Promise

One of the best written and most heartfelt tributes you'll read this year. Joe Posnanski reminisces about Bruce Springsteen's song The Promise and how it related to his dad and his summer job when he was 18.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Cam Newton Price is Right

- This might be the most badass man that has ever lived

- Kentucky man in dispute over tractor forced to eat his own beard at gunpoint. I am reminded about the old joke about being arrested in Kentucky for smuggling books but getting off on a technicality because nobody could prove they were books.

- Bad Gifts

- Live long and prosper

- Cool animation

- A list of athletes who served (I meant to post this yesterday)

- The Buffalo Herd Theory of Beer Drinking

- Drew Brees on Veterans Day (also meant to post this yesterday)

- Pat Sajak regrets horrible, horrible mistake

- Where's Mommy ???

Larry Bird



Just a reminder of how great Bird was.

Happy 235th Marines

Today is the 235th birthday for the United States Marine Corps.

In honor of the Marines - here's my favorite Ronald Reagan quote:

Some people live their entire lifetime and wonder if they ever made a difference to the world. Marines don't have that problem. -- January 1995

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Woman solves Wheel of Fortune puzzle with one letter

- Sweet collection pop icons in a different light

- My reaction to this was "Holy sh*t!That's wicked cool"

- Massive voting fraud reported in Massachusetts

- Sad Wade Phillips

- "Wouldn't Dutch a homoerotic." Auto-correct fail.

- Chalk Dust Torture

Johnny Appleseed



Just because.

Obama and the White House Correspondents Dinner

Given the rebuke and rebuff given President Obama and his policies this past Tuesday - I have to wonder what will happen during this year's White House Correspondent's Dinner? I have long held that Obama was:

Less Competent than Carter and More Paranoid than Nixon

Given that - will his skin be thick enough to endure a proper roast or will it be a milquetoast affair? Will Obama's people allow a Stephen Colbert-type roast or will it be a watered down Rich Little affair? Obama is ripe for the skewering but I don't think that will be allowed to happen. My prediction is that a mild-mannered comedian will be booked but that controversy will still exist as Obama lashes out at critics in a very un-Presidential manner.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Cleveland's answer to the LeBron "what should I do" commercial. Awesome!

- This made me chuckle

- Andy Marte - major bust

- 1895, West Africa: Badass female explorer saved from certain death by her voluminous skirt

- Obama is a trainwreck while Biden is a car wreck - literally

- George Takei goes medieval on this douchebag

- The Perfect Soccer Tackle

- Charles Bronson was the most Mandom man who ever was! Your Mandom is a shriveled husk of a Mandom compared to Charles Bronson

Language

You can add the suffix "-ling" to many words to denote smallness. So a duckling is a small duck, hireling, foundling, hatchling, etc.

One slang expression for taking a bowel movement is to "take a dump."

Dumplings are cooked balls of dough (and yummy at that). But couldn't the word be taken to mean "little dumps"? Little shits? Little balls of shit? I'll never look at a Chinese menu the same again.

Don Draper Says What?

I found this hilarious.

Now when I hear someone say "What?" I'll think of Don Draper just like when I hear someone say "stop" I think "Hammertime". Maybe it's just me.

Revenge Tickets

This story really ticks me off.

So the guy who got the ginned-up $300 ticket had to take two days off of work to fight the false charge while the guy who wrote the bogus ticket was suspended for just two days. That's a gross injustice.

The meter maid and the cop who wrote the fake ticket should have both been fired. Period!

If I'm a lawyer in Denver and that cop appears in court - I bring this up every time. Dear jury here we have a cop who manufactures evidence and we are supposed to believe he's telling the truth now?

Disgusting.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Last year Red Sox prospect Lars Anderson was ranked 17th among all prospects by Baseball America. This year he has been dropped down to 87th among all major league prospects. I don't necessarily have a problem with that since these rankings while good guidelines are no sure things. It should also be noted that Anderson is just 23 and while he had just a .768 OPS at AAA Pawtucket almost half of his hits were for extra bases (45 out of 107). I'll also point out that Dustin Pedroia was ranked 77th by Baseball America going into his year 23 season... Happy National Sandwich Day!... OK - I'll say it - Charlie Villanueva does look like a cancer patient. No offense meant to anyone but it is true. Not making excuses for Kevin Garnett but would it have been less offensive if he just called him a "motherf**ker"?... Happy 92nd Birthday to Hall of Famer Bob Feller!... Wow - per Michael Barone - California takes 5 weeks to count all their votes while Brazil takes just 5 hours. California is screwed up... I was sorry that Sean Bielat was not able to unseat Barney Frank. I do hope he stays in politics and runs against John Kerry next time around... I may print up business cards with the title "Director of Harlotry". I just like the sound of that title... It turns out that Rush Limbaugh was right!...... About Donovan McNabb!!

Golf Hustlers

I came across this American Heritage article from 2005. Very interesting stuff including:

A relative latecomer to golf, [Titanic] Thompson took up the game when he was nearly 30, in 1921. Already a crack shot, a champion bowler, a good pool player, and an expert at dice and cards, particularly poker, he learned quickly. In 1934 a group of Dallas businessmen put up $3,000 to host a match between Thompson and a young Byron Nelson. By then Thompson had become famous in the golfing community, and people came from hundreds of miles to witness the match. Nelson spotted Thompson 3 strokes, and lost, shooting 68 to Thompson’s 70. Tommy Bolt, the 1958 U.S. Open champion, once said of Thompson’s golfing ability: “He could have been the greatest.”

Ron Shelton was supposedly interested in making a film based on Titanic Thompson but after reading through this article I have to wonder if he actually did but called it Tin Cup instead.

Randy Moss

Here's my take on the Randy Moss situation.

It seems to me that Randy Moss is very much like the spoiled - talented kid who switches from one high school to another in his senior year. The kid was just as talented and spoiled at the first school as at the second but the first school had all his friends from the past three years and it had adults who he respected enough not to completely go off his meds.

The kid had to switch schools and at first he was happy about it. But being insecure he had to build himself up by knocking other people (and catering services) down at this new school. His friends weren't there anymore to tell him to shut up. He starts pouting and saying publicly how much better his other school was and how the adults at the other school were so much better than the adults at his new school. The adults at his new school are just stupid (anyone with kids has heard things called "stupid" by unhappy children). Then the adults at the new school decide to suspend the kid.

Now the kid can't go back to his old school and his new school just kicked him out. Other schools don't have to take him in but some school eventually will because as petulant as the kid is - he is still very talented.

The adults at his first school are silently relieved to have him out of their hair and shake their heads at any school willing to put up with his crap.

Mitt Romney and Bruce Campbell

Tomorrow is the end of the 2010 election cycle but it also marks the beginning of the 2012 election cycle. To mark this occasion I thought I would mention something I've long believed.


In many ways the persona of Bruce Campbell is the exact opposite of Mitt Romney. Campbell is the sort of regular guy you'd like to have a beer with. Romney doesn't drink and given his business background - if he came up to talk with you in the back of your mind you might be worrying that he's about to eliminate your job. Campbell would make you want to say "take this job and shove it!"

Romney should capitalize on this dichotomy and hire Bruce Campbell to do some appearances and commercials as the "bizarro Romney". They could do commercials together in a "what Romney says" and "what bizarro Campbell Romney actually wants to say." It would be a hit and it would take down some of the complaints about Romney being too slick, phony or stiff.

I should be making big money as a political adviser. Romney should also hire Red Sox legend Carlton Fisk to do commercials for him in New Hampshire. Romney probably already has New Hampshire locked up but this would be the kind of move that would really ensure success.