Ricky Jay

The great Ricky Jay has passed away.

No offense to Penn & Teller but Ricky Jay was my favorite magician. If you watch the documentary about him Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay you'll understand why.

Besides Penn & Teller did not have a recurring role on one of my favorite shows like Ricky Jay did on Deadwood as Eddie Sawyer.

RIP Ricky.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I see Jon Lester as a very similar pitcher to Curt Schilling (except one's a righty the other lefty) and Schilling pitched till he was 40. I would have no problem with the Red Sox extending a 6-7 year contract to Lester at market rates. Bring Jon Lester home... Cool - the top of the Prudential Tower in Boston poking through the clouds... Penn & Teller's Bullsh*t now on Amazon Prime. Pretty excited for that...  Sacrifice... Would Reach-Around Elmo be a good name for a band or fantasy football team?... I wonder if somewhere in Vegas they have the odds on Roger Clemens being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame...

Linky Links

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

- Is having a poker room good business for a casino?

- Penn & Teller on freedom and burning the flag

- Heh heh - Ukrainian astronomers name star "Putin is a dickhead" As an aside Putin-Hulio! would be a good name for a fantasy football team.

- Excellent insiders piece on Iraq. Why we stuck with Maliki and lost Iraq.

- Trust us - we're from the UN! Climate change keeps moving further and further from actual science.

- Why were codpieces so large? Surprise answer - herpes!

- Books make me horny!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

So work pretty much ends for the week about 3: EST today. The USA plays Belgium at 4:00 and people will need an hour or so to get where they will watch the match then the 4th holiday is upon us. Yup - pretty much done for the week after 3:00... Mick Jagger calls the kettle black... I like the idea of making free throws worth 2 points but then subtracting 1 point for every missed free throw... Heh heh - how to shotgun a beer... Product idea - hangover cereal fortified with Advil and caffeine... The silent one in Penn and Teller legally changed his name from Raymond Joseph Teller to just Teller...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting that I thought I'd share.

- Would you like to taste the Most Interesting Man in the World's Jam? It is for a good cause.

- How to "blow" a turkey call.

- I'm not a motorcycle guy but I would consider buying one of these to get around town

- Interesting article on Teller from Penn and Teller. Too bad the video on the link no longer works.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Bill James not only wants to rid the world of the unnecessary bunt but also thinks that eventually we will get rid of murder. Interesting interview.

- The dog days of summer are the proper time to argue over who was the greater NBA center - Rick Robey or Greg Ostertag

- Time-lapse photography of a dust storm in Arizona. I find the photography very cool but am concerned about damage dust storm did. Like seeing an accident on the side of the road not knowing if there was a fatality.

- David Hasselhoff is coming to "Sons of Anarchy."

- Swamp Ass PSA starring Nathan Fillion. Am I the only one who things to could market knock off Gold Bond Powder as Swamp Ass Powder?

- Very cool and thought provoking video. Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson. I look forward to the book.

- Mathieu Bich Fooled Penn and Teller. Very cool magic trick.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Piff the Magic Dragon from last week's Penn and Teller's "Fool Us" - I wish they would show this program in the US

- Monkey grabs camera, photographs himself.

- More amazing than any fireworks

- If GPS Systems could really talk

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I was disappointed by the lack of players from the Patriot League being represented in the NBA Draft last night. That disappointment is tempered by the fact that Holy Cross had same number of players chosen as Michigan State... I really want to own this painting... If you are bitten by Abe Vigoda - do you become a zombie?... A double rainbow! What does it mean? Obama's war on Libya! What does it mean?... One thing the real draft proves is that those mock NBA drafts are ALWAYS a waste of time (just like those mock NFL Drafts)... More art that I'd like to own... Interesting tidbit - giraffes and humans have the same number of vertebrae... Prohibited means "not allowed" but you never hear anyone say "hibited" for things that are allowed. I'm not sure if hibited is even a word. I'll be very gruntled if it is... "Britney Spears" is an anagram for “Presbyterians”... The FBI gets Whitey Bulger and the military gets Osama bin Laden meanwhile Iran still hasn't gotten Salman Rushdie. USA! USA! USA!... Why is it OK to say "I bring you tidings of comfort and joy" around Christmas but rest of the year people will look at you funny if you say it... The tea dumped in the historic Boston Tea Party had a modern value of about $847,000. That's a little less than what Milwaukee Brewers paid 40-yr old Jim Edmonds last year... This is why I love Penn and Teller so much

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Do you get the feeling that the Yankees management just wants to be rid of Jorge Posada? Here's a thought if that's true - if Jorge Posada continues to struggle then Yankees management should raffle off chances for a lucky fan to pinch hit for Posada in games that are out of reach one way or another (up or down by 4 runs after the 7th inning). The Yankees could charge $5 per ticket in the raffle and use that money to help pay Posada's $13 million salary... Yesterday I mentioned Donald Rumsfeld saying leaks about Osama bin Laden raid will make future raids more dangerous for soldiers and as if to illustrate that very point - Leon Panetta sends out memo warning CIA staff against leaks and of course the memo leaks... Trivia - the silent one in Penn and Teller duo changed his name from Raymond Joseph Teller to just Teller - he's the Madonna of magic... This is the greatest police report of all time (HT Baseball Crank)... Justin Verlander has made 10 starts this season - each of which was a quality start. Yet his record in those games is just 4-3 and the Tigers' record in those games is just 4-6... I laughed at this - you may find it tasteless: Can pregnant women go swimming?

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- The karate outfit

- Interesting - Space Debris chart

- Incredibly, this headline is not a joke

- Very cool Penn & Teller clip

- It was an unfortunate accident

- Interesting - Yankee Stadium parking woes

- God's Wife

- Even the Yakuza are helping out in the quake aftermath.

Penn Jillette Calls Bullsh!t on Obama

The Emperor has No Clothes moment from Penn Jillette?

Obama tells us that we can spend our way out of debt. He tells us that even though the government had control over the banks and did nothing to stop the bad that's going on, if we give them more control over more other bank-like things, then they can make sure bad stuff doesn't happen ever again. He says we can get out of all those big wars President Bush caused by sending more troops into Afghanistan. And I don't know. I really don't know.

Penn Jillette isn't exactly a hard core Democrat but he is the sort of voice from the Left that will start questions being asked.