Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Human exoskeltons

- Nice gesture by Adam Dunn

- "Dirty sex poop dogs"

- So what was the poison that killed King Goffrey?

- Shoot em if you got em - awesome Navy fighter jet vide0

- An oral history (that's written down) on Mystery Science Theater 3000

- Interesting look at the Phil Ivey "cheating" saga. Borgata's stance looks pretty stupid to me. Pay the man his money and change the cards you use.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I think the first step for dealing with Donald Sterling would be for billionaire Philip Anschutz, owner of the LA Kings and the Staples Center, to say he's banning Sterling completely from the Staples Center for "security" reasons. That should send the right sort of message. Then the NBA can do what they need to do... Speaking of sending a message to Donald Sterling... Bill Belichick running a half-marathon over the weekend makes me feel out of shape... Very cool... Anyone who spent a good amount of time staying in hotels over the years has at least one story where they almost killed or crippled themselves in the shower... Usually not a fan of selfies but this one is pretty cool... I would love to see a SNL skit of the founder of Pet Rocks going on Shark Tank to try and get funding... Heh heh - honest Wikipedia entries... Women boxing on a roof in the 30's...

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Let the Day Begin

Not as good as the original but still a cool tune.

Linky Links

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

- Jason Sudekis has been attached to play IM Fletcher in the long rumored Fletch Won prequel. If you've read the Fletch books I think this is a good choice.

- Game of Thrones honest trailer. A history test with dragons and boobs!

- Heh heh - "When he's [George Clooney] drinking, he considers himself a close personal buddy of the President."

- Cool - a wetsuit design that stops sharks from eating swimmers

- Amazon and HBO ink exclusive deal.

- Heh heh - Three stages of curiosity

Justified Season Five

It's been a couple of weeks since the final episode of Justified's fifth season and I just wanted to comment on what was by consensus the weakest season of a great show.

There were two main issues with this season. First Daryl Crowe Jr. and his clan just did not match up to the level of badassness of Bo Crowder, Mags Bennett or Robert Quarles from previous seasons. It's a given that those three represent three of the "best" heavies in modern TV drama history so it was a tough bar to match to begin with but Michael Rapaport never rose above a certain cartoonishness in my eyes. It was tough to root for or against him. I just didn't care that much.

The second issue was the storyline of Ava Crowder in jail. Once again - I just didn't care that much. Honestly I would have much preferred that most of her screen time instead be spent with Raylan indulging in his ice cream habit or random barroom singing acts (like season 3's Jack and Coke scene).

The good news is next season seems to be lined up pretty nicely with the final showdown of Raylan versus Boyd Cowder. Looking forward to it!

Linky Links

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

- I really can't look at this photo of Bartolo Colon "hitting" without laughing

- This is incredibly poignant 

- The dark and dangerous world of extreme cavers

- Cool - photos taken inside of musical instruments

- Cooler - The Simpsons will air an entire episode in Lego

- Interesting interview with George RR Martin

- Interestinger interview with Jack Gleason (King Joffrey)

Happy Easter

Linky Links

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

- Honest slogans

- Jeff Francoeur getting pranked by his minor league teammates is epic.

- I'm so happy that Jonathan Papelbon is some other team's problem

- The Gospel of Jesus' wife may be real.

- "Did someone eat a bat? Did someone scavenge another dead chimp, one that had shared fruit with a bat?" Your Ebola update. Scary stuff.

- 11 amazing insect close-ups

- George R R Martin has a sense of humor

Red Sox vs Yankees 2014

Tonight is the first match-up between the rival Red Sox and Yankees in the 2014 season. Here's a the first of four position by position breakdowns between the two clubs.

Catcher - Brian McCann was the premiere free agent catcher this past offseason and was a big signing for the Yankees. So far he's been a disappointment with just a .328 OPS (-7 OPS+ - YIKES!). McCann will eventually hit but this start may be a preview of what the end of his contract may look like. In Boston AJ Pierzynski was signed to replace Jarrod Saltalamachia and AJ has gotten flack on talk radio for his lack of plate discipline. Yet even though Salty has a decent .827 OPS to start the season (to AJ's .720 OPS) but it's Salty with 13 K's who may be the one with plate discipline issues. Even with his slow start knowing McCann can break out at any time - I'm going to call this a draw.

First - This was supposed to be Mark Teixeira vs Mike Napoli but Teixeira is hurt (again). Now it's Napoli (.942 OPS) vs Kelly Johnson (1.037 OPS) - who do you think can maintain that level of hitting? Edge Red Sox.

Second - It used to be Dustin Pedroia vs Robinson Cano and now it's Pedroia vs Brian Roberts. Edge Red Sox.

Shortstop - Hall of Famer to be Derek Jeter is on his farewell tour. The Red Sox counter with Xander Bogaerts who is ranked by most as the second best prospect in baseball. I'm going to call this a draw out of respect to Jeter's accomplishments but in reality I think even Yankee fans would admit they would rather have the Xander-man (in your head did you hear John Sterling when you read that?).

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

So Al Sharpton was an FBI informant? That should help his inner-city credibility.... Extreme tree trimming in the days before bucket trucks... Internet fact of the day - Alaska is so big that you could fit the state of New Jersey into it 75 times... Schwartzenegger driving... I think if you randomly inserted Whoopi Goldberg into the show True Detective - it would have been much scarier... JFKFC... You can't have good without evil yet Christianity has official blessings without any official curses. Seems like a missing ingredient... Confession - I haven't missed an NCAA championship game in years yet I have never seen One Shining Moment. Either at a bar and you can't hear song over noise or at home and go to bed. I don't think I'm really missing anything...

Linky Links

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

- 10 Pterosaur facts. First off don't call a pterosaur a dinosaur. Second off my spell check wants to change "pterosaur" to "stegosaurus". Poor pterosaur gets no respect.

- Things Disney characters do that would be very creepy if you did them.

- If Superman existed then Gravity would have been a much shorter movie.

- The physics of Captain America

- These are wicked funny

- Interesting - the daily routines of some famous artists and thinkers

Player Comparison

Here's a small sample size player comparison but its one I want to track all season:

Player A - 0 R/ 0 HR/ 0 RBI/ 1 SB/ .000 BA/ .222 OBP/ .222 OPS
Player B - 1 R/ 1 HR/ 1 RBI/ 0 SB/ .250 BA/ .250 OBP/ .875 OPS

Player A is Jacoby Ellsbury who had a planned day off yesterday and Player B is Grady Sizemore who also had a day off yesterday. I have nothing against Ellsbury but the Sizemore story is so great that this comparison warrants special attention during the season.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Interesting - 6 people will spend 4 months on top of a Hawaiian volcano in a "high tech yurt" to simulate life on Mars. Three guys, three girls in cramped space - what could go wrong?... Snoop Dogg's Scrotal Torque would be a good name for a fantasy baseball team... What's the difference between flotsam and jetsam?... "I haven't slept for 10 days.... because that would be too long." Mitch Hedberg... The original Charlie's Angels in 1976. Like a cheese cracker!... If you think about it those old Peppy Le Pew cartoons simply broke down to a skunk that wanted to f*ck a cat... How much of your beer money goes to taxes?  Wyoming has the right idea...

Linky Links

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

- How much does it cost to propose at a baseball park? Interesting.

- It's a $35,000 Rolex but the story that goes with it now is priceless.

- Beer marinade is healthy. Once again beer is proof that God loves us.

- Senegal closes its border with Guinea to try and stop Ebola outbreak. Nothing scares me like Ebola.

- I believe the count is ball two.