Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Linky Links

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

- Heh heh

- Harry Truman was a good man.

- Samuel Whittemore was a badass!

- Heh heh

War Room

Recently I read the book War Room by Michael Holley. I thought it was a fun read especially for any Patriots or in general any NFL fan. The book gave some history and background for the Browns, Patriots, Chiefs and Falcons and some insight on how the NFL draft is done from behind the scenes.

There was one passage in particular that caught my attention:
"Each [Kansas City Chiefs] scout's report is always expected to include answers answers to the following questions:
What will this player's role be as a Chief? Will the role change from year one to year two? How many downs can he be expected to play? Which current player on the roster will he beat out? What's his value on special teams? Does he have positional flexibility?
Makes one want to review the picks from the last draft and ask these questions of the players chosen especially for the Patriots and Falcons who use the process described in the book.

The only complaint I'd have about the book is in the retelling of the Patriots rise to success Holley mentioned how the Boston Herald falsely accused the Patriots of filming the Rams walk-though before the Super Bowl only to later have to apologize because their story was basically made up. Holley never names the reporter responsible. That report is John Tomase who is a fat tub of lard lies.

Monday, May 30, 2016

HMS Jersey

On this Memorial Day it is good to remember not just those who have given their last full measure in the past few generations but also the earliest Americans who gave their all. The story of the HMS Jersey is a good place to start:
One of the most gruesome chapters in the story of America’s struggle for independence from Britain occurred in the waters near New York Harbor, near the current location of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. From 1776 to 1783, the British forces occupying New York City used abandoned or decommissioned warships anchored just offshore to hold those soldiers, sailors and private citizens they had captured in battle or arrested on land or at sea (many for refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the British Crown). Some 11,000 prisoners died aboard the prison ships over the course of the war, many from disease or malnutrition. Many of these were inmates of the notorious HMS Jersey, which earned the nickname “Hell” for its inhumane conditions and the obscenely high death rate of its prisoners.
Abraham Clark of New Jersey was a signatory of  Declaration of Independence. Both of Clark's sons were captured and held prisoner on the HMS Jersey. His eldest son died there of STARVATION! More that twice as many Americans died aboard those British prison ships that actually died in battle during the Revolutionary war.

Memorial Day


37,000 American flags on Boston Common to honor every single Massachusetts resident who had died in battle since the Revolutionary War.

10 things to remember about Memorial Day.

The Dutch remember.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Linky Links

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

- Very cool - America's super gun! USA! USA!

- Never knew this was a scam. Have to go back to donating my old clothes to Goodwill.

- I always wondered about this. How the needle through the arm trick works.

- I went into this article not liking Joey Logano but after reading - I still don't like Joey Logano.

JFK


JFK would have turned 99-years old today. No idea how old JKFC would be today.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Hangover ice cream is a genius idea!... Just saying but the Red Sox magic number to win the AL East is now just 115... Heh heh... Sorry but Red Nose Day makes me think that men should have a Hold Your Balls Day where men go around all day holding their balls to raise awareness about testicular cancer. Both days would be equally silly in their marketing... Oh crap... I detest Wade Boggs. The only reason his number got retired by the Red Sox last night is because Peter Gammons has been lobbying ownership to do it for the past decade... Too soon?... According to the Bible - Noah's ark would have been about half the size of the Titanic. Thank God Noah didn't run into any ice bergs... My hat's off to the parents of this young man. Fantastic!... Too bad Charles Bukowski's Beer Shits is too long for a fantasy baseball team name... Heh heh... Is there a bar called the Vodka A Go Go? If not I call dibs... Scientists think they've finally figured out what the appendix actually does...

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Top 5 - John Wayne Movies

Today would have been the Duke's 109th birthday. here are what I consider his top 5 movies.

1. True Grit
2. The Quiet Man
3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
4. Red River
5. (tie) Rooster Cogburn (tie) She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Linky Links

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

- TD Bank getting rid of it's coin counting machines. On a related item - it's time to discontinue the penny.

- How to make a cheese ball machine gun out of a leaf blower. When you see it - most guys will want one. But once you have it - you'd probably use it just once or twice.

- Heh heh - Alien as retold from the cat's perspective

- Gary Johnson up to 10% in Fox News Poll. Just getting started!

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Linky Links

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

- On this day in history

- What happens when you swallow your gum? You know you've asked yourself this question.

- Take it off! Take it all off!

- Forrest bathing? I try to take a walk, a trek or a hike an hour each day. Who knew I was at the forefront of a new movement?

- Is Carlos Beltran really a Hall of Fame player? My immediate reaction is if Dwight Evans isn't in then Beltran doesn't belong but I may have to give this more thought.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Player Comparison - Yaz vs Ortiz

Some attention whores in Boston like to declare that David Ortiz was a more impactful or better hitter than Ted Williams but until someone says about Ortiz, "there goes the best hitter that ever lived" I'm not playing that game. However, I was curious about how Ortiz compares to Captain Carl - Carl Yastrzemski.

Player A - 2291 G/ 1360 R/ 513 HR/ 1674 RBI/ .285 BA/ .928 OPS/ 140 OPS+
Player B - 3308 G/ 1816 R/ 452 HR/ 1844 RBI/ .285 BA/ .841 OPS/ 130 OPS+

Ortiz is Player A and Yaz is Player B. Very close - very close indeed. The numbers get even more interesting if you just drop the last 3-years of Yaz's career.  That would give each player 20-years of MLB service. Yaz would then have a better BA and be 8 RBI ahead of Ortiz (for now). It is true that Yaz did win an MVP but surprisingly Ortiz had more Top 5 MVP finishes (5 to 2 for Yaz). Ortiz would appear to be the better slugger but surprisingly Ortiz never led the league in slugging (something Yaz did 3-times).

Yaz should get the nod as the better all-around player with 7 Gold Gloves as an outfielder and 164 stolen bases to Ortiz's 16. However, are those factors outweighed or at least equaled by Ortiz's postseason heroics? But even there surprisingly Yaz had a better postseason OPS (1.047 to Ortiz's .964) but in just 17 games versus 82 for Ortiz.

Very close - very close indeed!

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Linky Links

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

- The last cast member of Casablanca passes away

- Larry Fitzgerald keeps his promise to his mom and gets his degree. Great story but being a cynical sort I had two immediate thoughts; University of Phoenix? Does that really count? Also - why no mention of his dad?

- The argument against killing all mosquitoes

- Fantastic advice

- Yesterday was Rob Gronkowski's birthday - here's why Patriots fans idolize him

Friday, May 13, 2016

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Do you remember when NHL game sevens used to be exciting nail biters?... It comes as no surprise that Russia cheated during the Sochi Olympics... Today's word for the day is "holoholo" which is Hawaiian for "to ramble for pleasure"... The arguments in Boston about Ted Williams vs David Ortiz are ridiculous. Has anyone ever said about Ortiz, "There goes the best hitter who ever lived?" Ortiz versus Yaz however... File under the more things change the more they remain the same... If I were to run a scam it would to be as a pet fish medium. How could anyone prove you weren't actually in communication with a beloved deceased goldfish?... Who knew? Jacques Cousteau didn't learn to swim until he was forty years old. Do kids today even know who Jacques Cousteau was?... Interesting look at the science behind why living things age and die...

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Linky Links

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

- Great story from Pedro Martinez on the lesson Johnny Bench taught him the evening of Pedro's HOF induction.

- Why it's great to be a Boston sports fan and lousy to be a Washington DC sports fan

- Heh heh - sometimes I have the sense of humor of a 10-year old boy

- Brad Thor's well thought out opposition to Donald Trump

- Speaking of Trump

- 45 podcasts recommended by Ted.com

Sihugo Green

People talk about Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan as the biggest draft day mistake in history but for my money Sihugo Green was a much bigger mistake.

In the 1956 NBA draft, the Rochester Royals had the first pick and the Boston Celtics had the second pick (via a trade with St. Louis). With the first pick Rochester selected 6'2" Sihugo Green of Duquesne. With the second pick, the Boston Celtics selected Bill Russell of San Francisco.

The rest is history.

In case you never heard of Sihugo - he ended up playing 9 season (his last with the Celtics BTW) and averaged 9.2 points per game and 3.3 assists for his career.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Netflix

Probably my biggest complaint about Netflix is that there should be a way to tell them "Don't show me this movie or show as an option ever again!' It's so annoying. Netflix should adopt Pandora's thumbs up or thumbs down approach. On Pandora if you vote thumbs down on a song - you don't hear it again on that channel ever.

I know this is a first world problem but the amount of time searching for something to watch would so greatly reduced if I eliminated the things I told Netflix I did not wish to watch.

Same goes for you Amazon Prime!

Monday, May 09, 2016

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Obama and the "know nothing" media... A blonde is a blonde, a brunette is a brunette and a redhead is a redhead. But what do you call a woman with black hair? You don't call her a black and certainly not a blackhead... Heh heh... Just a reminder - Red Auerbach won just a single NBA Coach of the Year award and that was for the season in which the Celtics would win the 8th of eventually 9 consecutive NBA titles... Heh heh... Interesting - animation of immigration to the US since the 1820's. Looks like pretty much every nation on Earth has people in the US now...

Sunday, May 08, 2016

Saturday, May 07, 2016

Kentucky Derby


Today is Kentucky Derby day! The above image is sunrise over the twin spires of Churchill Downs via Darren Rovell.

The Kentucky Derby is one of the great American traditions. One of my favorite bits of Derby trivia is that Richard Nixon is the only sitting American President to ever attend a Kentucky Derby. One of the darker (no pun intended) aspects of Derby history that's stuck in my head is the fact that in 1911 the Kentucky Derby banned black jockeys after they won 15 of the first 28 Derbies. If you can't beat them - ban them I guess was the thought process.

Anyway - on to my picks:

Trifecta Box of - Nyquist (2-1); Destin (21-1) and Exaggerator (5-1)

I know Nyquist is the chalk choice but how foolish would you feel if he finishes in the top 3 and you didn't have him?

I am also taking long shot Majesto (was 30-1 but latest odds are 60-1) for a few dollars across the board.

Before following my advice please remember I'm just a casual observer of horse racing and that I'm the kind of person who thinks while watching the races about how funny it would be if  instead of elaborate hats - the ladies (and Johnny Weir) had to wear fake beards instead.

Good luck. May the odds ever be in you favor!

Friday, May 06, 2016

Linky Links

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

- Heh heh - Arizona's new state slogan

- Cool - the story behind hockey's most iconic photo

- This is what passes as "news" at CNN these days

- Boo!!! The FDA is trying to kill cigars

- Surprise surprise - Donald Trump is a golf cheat

- Over a million trees in California have died and now it is basically too late to do anything about it

- This is an awful story but the judge did the right thing

- Stephen Colbert is failing. He's akin to Jeb Bush. Was big in a smaller stage (Colbert Show vs Governor of Florida) and his "big brother" got him his initial name recognition (Jon Stewart and George W) but they both fell apart in the spotlight of the big stage despite all the establishment backing.

- Heh heh

Thursday, May 05, 2016

Gary Johnson



Between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton - Gary Johnson is the only one I'm willing to cast my vote for this November.

Monday, May 02, 2016

Evolution of Django

Recently character actor Joe Santos passed away. Santos was probably best know as Lt. Dennis Becker on The Rockford Files. When he passed I was curious so I looked at his IMDB profile where I found out he was in a 1972 movie called The Legend of Nigger Charlie starring Fred Williamson in the title role. Seriously - that was the name of the movie.

The plot of TLONC:
A slave kills a white man in self-defense and heads West towards freedom, pursued by a professional slave hunter.
OK - I can see a pitch with that plot getting a green-light. But with that movie name? 1972 was obviously a different time. So different that not only was the movie made but also a sequel in 1973 - The Soul of Nigger Charley.

No way either of those movies gets made today. No way! You would have to first obviously change the name to something unoffensive and for good measure instead of a professional slave hunter lets change that character to a bounty hunter and what the heck - let's make them buddies.

That's how you evolve from TLONC to something like this.

Sunday, May 01, 2016

Prince's Best Solo

Prince's guitar solo at the end of this While My Guitar Gently Weeps tribute to George Harrison is my favorite of all-time.

Here's the backstory of how that came to be.

Here's a story of Prince and Journey that shows Prince's integrity as an artist.

I feel bad that I never properly appreciated Prince when he was alive.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Well I hope at least the white half of President Obama was out-raged on behalf of the black half of President Obama over last night's comments. (Actually I could care less)... The comments made last night that people should be outraged at was this one.. Remember these comments if President Trump comes to pass... Radical idea for the day - the NBA should cut it's regular season back by 16 games but then make the playoffs double elimination... Love that Tom Brady is hiring the best attorneys to fight this DefateGate BS...  Not for nothing but this weekend would be a good time to have a company that makes combo gas masks / bongs... The things that are coming and leaving Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO Go in May... "It is what it is" - who said it? Bill Belichick or the Buddah... Heh heh - words by Donald Trump...