Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I like Peter Gammons suggestion regarding changing the MLB qualifying offer situation. No player could be offered a qualifying offer twice and a team in the bottom 40% of revenue wouldn't lose their draft allotment money... My guess is that Mitch McConnell hired an out of state ad firm. His fault for not catching the mistake when he approved it.... Scientists still don't understand how aspirin works... Heh heh - James Neal is a cheapshot artist... According to Darren Rovell - Ralph Wilson bought the Buffalo Bills in 1959 for $25,000 which would be about $200,000 today. Current value of the Bills is around $900 million... Make sure you check your Kindle account for possible credits from the Apple eBook settlement... Strange but true - Bronson Arroyo had the most impressive corn rows in Red Sox history... Cool - watch a hawk fly in slo-motion through various shaped small holes... I'm sure Adam Carolla will be happy to hear that Bill Belichick's proposal to extend uprights another 5 feet has passed and is one step closer to becoming an NFL reality... Making me hungry - the 21 best sandwich shops in America...

Monday, March 24, 2014

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Look at Bill Clinton's, George Bush's and Barack Obama's expectation of dealing with Vladimir Putin and the realities they found.

- How Cosmos bungles the history of religion and science. I was looking forward to the show but have frankly been underwhelmed. The original Cosmos was truly original but now there are so many good science documentaries that the new Cosmos isn't really breaking any new ground.

- New Ebola outbreak in Africa. Nothing scares me like crashing and bleeding out.

- The daily routine of geniuses.

- Christopher Walken - dancer

- Call Me A Hole. One year old and still a great mash-up.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Flowerjack

Right or wrong a florist is not considered the most manliest of professions for a guy. I think I know how to change that. Simply change the name of the job.

When it comes to carpenters - you have framers and guys who do finish work. Both are carpenters and both jobs are considered equally manly. Likewise if you think of it trees are just giant plants and cutting down trees could be considered similar to what framing houses is to carpentry.

Having said all that - here's my idea; change the name of the job from florist to flowerjack.

Having said that - here's the Lumberjack Song.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Just to be clear - we now know exactly who President Obama picked in his NCAA pool but we still don't know where he was the night our Embassy in Beghazi was attacked... Interesting place to dance... I'm still not 100% convinced that the new Kevin Costner movie Draft Day isn't some elaborate hoax by ESPN or the NFL Network... Someone should republish the Encyclopedia Brown books but replace his sidekick Sally Kimball with Courtney Love. Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Missing 777. Comedy gold!... If you're into fantasy baseball - here's some rookies who should make an impact this season... I agree that a modern variation of the Golden Rule is whether you recline your seatback on an airplane or not..

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Sex tape pioneer Rob Lowe turned 50 yesterday. He was way ahead of the video curve that guy... Interesting argument from FanGraphs about Tigers better off not signing Stephen Drew... Last time I went to a Waffle House our waitress quit mid-shift before we got half our food or our bill. The manager was nice enough to give us a 10% discount for our trouble. A real prince among men that guy... Heh heh - if you flip a photo of bats hanging upside down - they look like they are having a wicked dance-off... The Phillies are said to be shopping Jimmy Rollins. If Philadelphia chipped in part of Rollins 2014 salary of $11 million - this could be something worth Detroit looking into... Have to wonder if Liam Neeson's Non-Stop was the inflight movie of MH370. Could explain some things... Interesting piece of WWI history I wasn't aware of... Gary Kasparov makes a good point - if Putin really is so popular in Russia why is he so afraid of free elections and a free media?... Very cool - the song of the hummingbird in super slo-motion... If the day after Christmas can be known as Boxing Day why can't the day after St. Patrick's Day be known as Hangover Day?...

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Saint Cornelius of Ireland

Though not widely remembered today - at one point Saint Cornelius of Ireland (not to be confused with Saint Cornelius of Antioch) was second in popularity in the Emerald Isle only to Saint Patrick. 

Saint Patrick is remembered for driving the snakes out of Ireland. Saint Cornelius was said to have driven the squirrels out of Ireland. This "miracle" of Saint Cornelius later proved to be his undoing. During the Great Potato Famine starving Irishmen and women wished they had tasty squirrel meat to eat and they cursed Saint Cornelius for driving out the furry rodents. In response to this outrage - Pope Pius IX removed Cornelius from the roll of official Catholic Saints.

Stephen Drew

Jose Iglesias is likely out for the season and immediately the speculation is that the Tigers will turn their attention to free agent Stephen Drew to fill the void. As a Red Sox fan I would like to see Drew signed somewhere and if he signed with Detroit the compensation pick would give Boston the 25th, 32nd, and 33rd picks in the first round of this year's MLB draft. That said - this is hardly a done deal.

First off - Drew isn't the only option for Detroit. Arizona is said to be open to dealing either Didi Gregorius or Chris Owings. Maybe a deal to the Diamondbacks for back-up catcher Bryan Holaday would make it happen? Seattle's Nick Franklin could also be a trade option. Why would the Tigers go the trade route instead of signing Drew? Two words - Scott Boras.

You can be sure that Boras will use this opportunity to start a bidding between Detroit and the Mets and maybe even the Yankees. The Tigers probably want Drew for just one year but that probably won't be enough for Boras who needs to prove he wasn't wrong in having Drew turn down the Red Sox one-year $14.1 million qualifying option.. Two years or more may make the trade route more attractive for the Tigers.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Ukraine

The situation in Ukraine is dire but something about the reported circumstances has been bugging me and since I haven't seen what's been bugging me mentioned anywhere else - I thought I'd get it off my chest here.

First you had the Sochi Winter Olympics on which Vladimir Putin and the Russians spent a reported $51 billion. You heard on how corrupt the process and how shoddy the workmanship was. Jokes were made about how the Russians couldn't even manage to build a decent Potemkin village these days. You also heard some rumblings out of Moscow on how that $51 billion could have been better spent on the struggling Russian people instead of an ego showcase for Putin. Keeping in mind how much control Putin exerts over the media - hearing these grumblings is mildly extraordinary.

Then you had the rapid succession of the Ukraine protests, the murder of protesters by government snipers and then the cowardly running away by and fall of the Yanukovych government. Putin's response was to withdraw $15 billion of support pledged to the Ukraine government and then the securing of the area around the Russian naval base in Sevastopol followed by the military annexation of the Crimea.

My immediate thought on all of this was that it was the warm water naval base at Sevastopol was the key to the events. Lost in the shuffle was the $15 billion in aid the Russians pulled back. What if that was equally important to the situation? What if there was never any $15 billion? What if it was a phony paper deal that was designed to line the pockets of Yanukovych and his cronies and give Russia a lease on the Sevastopol base and the Ukrainian energy deposits? A new government would have seen through the phony deal right away so Putin pulled it.

Since Russia has to pay the army anyway - Putin figures it's cheaper to just take Sevastopol and "free" Crimea under force of arms. And while he's there why not "liberate" the rest of the Ukraine with energy deposits. The Russian economy is dependent upon energy. What if the Russian economy is in such bad shape that Putin is forced into doing what he's been doing because the country is broke?

That's scarier than the alternative that Putin is a bully megalomaniac.

These maps show where the ethnic Russians are and just as importantly where the energy deposits are in Ukraine.

Looking back Uraine made a mistake by giving up all of its nukes.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm really happy the Patriots signed Darrelle Revis. Some are curious if his deal precludes New England from using the franchise tag on him next year. I'm curious if Bill Belichick will also use him as an extra receiver (like a reverse Troy Brown)... I'm starting to understand why some people are afraid of clowns... Put me in the camp of people who think the Boston Celtics having special St. Patrick's Day uniforms as a dumb idea. They're the Boston CELTICS!!... Interesting - did climate change allow Genghis Khan to invade with such success? Wonder what Dan Carlin thinks of this?... Heh heh - the Germans play Monopoly... How is Jerry Sandusky not dead in jail by now?... I laughed at the Obama Between Two Ferns interview but I agree that this Presidency and Between Two Ferns have officially jumped the shark... As a Boston fan I'm getting restless. It has been way too many months since our last championship... If I knew then what I know now I would have bought all the lawn darts I could before they became illegal and I would give the Jarts as a semi-joke gift every Christmas to friends who have pre-teen boys...  Interesting - a possible explanation for what happened to flight MH370... Patrick Laverty made a great point. The Florida Marlins complained that the Red Sox failed to field a major league team last time they played but the Marlins still LOST that game! What does that say about the Marlins...  RIP American hero and Band of Brothers icon Wild Bill Guarnere...

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Putt-Putt Perfection

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Compelling look at an accomplishment I didn't even know existed even though like most American males I've played miniature golf dozens of times in my life.

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Doyle and Debbie



Saw the Doyle and Debbie Show in Nashville last night. It was great.

I heard about the show from the Marc Maron WTF interview of Ron White who said Doyle and Debbie was the funniest thing he's ever seen. Well worth the price!

Monday, March 03, 2014

The Night the Fix was In

Interesting look at the Mike Tyson - Peter McNeeley fight.

Did McNeeley's manager throw in the towel because he had a $1 million prop bet? Sounds like he did.