Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Now that Harvey Weinstein is a convicted rapist just a reminder that while he was President - Barack Obama got his daughter Malia an internship with Weinstein's company... Just curious but if The Rent is Too Damn High guy was running for President as a Democrat how do you think he'd be polling against this field? Have to be double digits right?... Adult Swim should have a show called Rick Santorum: Vatican Spy. It would be a cross between The West Wing and Archer. Tell me you wouldn't watch that show!... I'd like more Randy Quaid in my life (Tweet is a year old but damn)... I know stereotyping is bad but if I see the back of your car has 10 or more bumper stickers and two of them are for Coexist and Bernie Sanders - I'm going to go right ahead and assume that your home smells like cat piss... Deep thoughts from Chris - could Dark Matter simply be the leftover quantum entanglements from the matter and anti-matter that was annihilated just after the Big Bang? (Please note that if this turns out to be true the Nobel committee must credit A Large Regular)... Ed Asner could be this decade's Abe Vigoda. Every time his name comes up I'm surprised to learn he's actually still alive...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

OK I'll say it! I don't think that is is a coincidence that International Women's Day fell on a day where there was no football. That's proper scheduling... This is awesome!... Is goalie Roberto Luongo a Hall of Famer? Sure he's 2nd in all time in games played and 3rd all-time in wins (485) but he's never won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in the NHL. Maybe he is a Hall of Famer - I just never looked at him that way... Adult Swim should have a show called Rick Santorum: Vatican Spy. It would be a cross between The West Wing and Archer. Tell me you wouldn't watch that show!... Would you eat the Moon if it was made of ribs? Harry Caray would... Maybe the worst part of St. Patrick's Day is the fat guy in a kilt. You know that guy - you run into one every year. The fat guy in the kilt who is always joking about "the breeze" or "dangling shillelaghs" trying to get you to ask if he's wearing underwear. You know the guy... Now this is a diet I could get behind...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I have 99 problems but a busted bracket ain't one of them. Another year and no brackets filled out - give them up already... Heh heh - wisdom from a WWII veteran... Georgetown's nickname of Hoyas means "what rocks!" in Greek. Based upon their performance in the NCAA these past few years - I wonder what is Greek for "what bricks!"... David Petraeus - ISIS is not our biggest problem in Iraq, Iran is... The Mesopotamian god of the moon was called Sin which is appropriate since most "sins" occur at night... This issue could be loaded with irony. Coal plants are needed to protect the manatees... A TV show called Rick Santorum Vatican Spy would be awesome. It would be a cross between The West Wing and Archer... Excellent point - Starbucks wants to talk race relations but they have no stores in Selma, Fergueon or other mostly black communities. Hypocritical posers... So what is killing the bees?...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I can see watching the first round of the NFL draft. Lots of big name players and this is the round that has the biggest impact on your team's future. I can even see watching the second day of drafting but if you are still tuned into the draft today - then you should do some re-evaluation about what's important in your life... Interesting little story from Ken Levine that bridges minor league baseball with popular culture... Perhaps the best use possible for $5 is the purchase of a box of 100 freeze pops. I consider freeze pops one of the most under-rated of man's inventions... I know I'm not the first to point this out but the initials for the new Coors Light Iced Tea product spells out CLIT. "Hey guys let's go out and grab some CLIT!"...  During some of the NFL draft I laid on the couch with my eyes closed and I would have sworn they had Sylvester the cat explaining some of the picks. Turns out it was just Mike Mayock... Very cool - a glass floor bathroom built over a 15-story elevator shaft... Pretty sure that the Romney people are thinking that Rick Santorum can shove his endorsement up his ass... Heh heh...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

In the wake of NBC News admitting they edited audio from George Zimmerman to make him sound racist it should be asked if NBC would be better off just getting rid of their News Division completely. The money they will lose in a lawsuit from Zimmerman is bound to be more than any profits the News Division will bring to NBC for the next several years.. 17 offbeat holidays you can celebrate in April. Oh and happy National Tell a Lie Day. Seriously that's today - I'm not lying... I love the show Justified but one thing bothered me about last night's show. Mags Bennett made that $3.2 million everyone seems to be chasing by dealing weed. Boyd would have a monopoly on selling weed in Harlan at this point - why doesn't he just make the money the same way Mags did?... Heh heh - 10 brutally honest office signs... Damn it! "Keith Olbermann's Comfort Hookers" is too long to use as a fantasy baseball team name... Am I the only one who gets upset at the end of the movie Taken because Liam Neeson's ex-wife lets him take a cab home after he risks his life to save their daughter? She should have insisted on giving him a ride. They had a limo! It's not like they didn't have any room in the car for him... An honest snapshot of the Santorum campaign would look like this. He should drop out.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

It should be noted that Mike Aviles who ends up being the starting shortstop for one of baseball's richest teams was basically given up for nothing by the Royals. To get Aviles the Red Sox gave up Kendal Volz (flotsam) and  Yamaico Navarro (jetsam)...  Heh heh - the most accurate Jets passer... Could a guy who owns a landscaping business also be called a geostrategist?... All the talk about Etch-a-sketch reminds me of the Emerson quote, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines"...  15 Bizarre Portraits of Nude Politicians. I thought the JFK assassination was tastefully done... Last night the Boston Bruins honored team Captain Zdeno Chara who recently played his 1,000th game. Chara reminds me of what could have been if Gord Kluzak had healthy knees. Kluzak may have been (slightly) shorter but he was actually much more talented than Chara (which is not a knock on Chara just a reminder of how great Kluzak could have been)... Taking the phrase "a man's home is his castle" literally... If anyone snarks at you about Mitt Romney and "car elevators" remind that person that Mitt is mega rich and that his wife Ann has MS... Do you have an extra $35-70,000 laying around? The 1959 Masters Green Jacket is for sale... If Rick Santorum was elected President his first act would be to outlaw folk music in Catholic Churches. Acoustic guitars have no place near the altar in Santorum's America... Finally - a product that is just begging for a Ben Roethlisberger endorsement. Just begging for it... The have been a number of articles recently about the debate of the Red Sox using Daniel Bard as a starter or whether he should stay in the bullpen. If the article fails to mention Justin Masterson then the article was either lazy or biased towards Bard going back to the bullpen (looking at you Ken Rosenthal)... Wow - Matt Bush does not seem like a very good human being... I think a TV show called Rick Santorum - Vatican Spy would be awesome. You could have a West Wing meets Archer meets Get Smart type mash-up. Wouldn't you watch something like that?...

Rick Santorum Endorses Mitt Romney

 Heh heh - Rick Santorum endorses Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney - The Best Choice on the Menu

Say a nice restaurant puts lobster on the menu at $8. That's well below the market rate but even at that price not every diner is going to choose lobster. Some may pick another entree because they just don't like lobster, others may pick another entree because they had it before and liked it while still others will pick the cheeseburger because it is $7.95 and they cannot justify spending that extra nickel.

That was the analogy that struck me when reading this Atlantic article asking Has Mitt Romney Run a Lousy Campaign? Hell no!

"Cringe inducing gaffes"? "I'm running for office for Pete's sake"? "My wife has a couple of Cadillacs"? "Friends with a few NASCAR team owners"? "For Pete's sake" is as gritty as it gets for Mitt Romney. He's not going to launch into John McCain type Naval cuss-fests. Romney is worth north of $250 million - of course his wife has a couple of cars. At least they are American made. A real gaffe is Energy Secretary Steven Chu's wife driving a BMW (but don't expect that to be called a "gaffe" even though it is exponentially worse political optics). Some critics have taken the "friends with a few NASCAR team owners" as evidence Romney is out of touch with sports. This is a guy with Red Sox season tickets, who is great friends with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose former Bain partner now owns the Celtics and a guy who helped build the Sports Authority into a national powerhouse. Yeah - obviously this guy Romney is completely out of touch when it comes to sports.

(I will grant that I have no idea what prompted him to remark that the trees in Michigan are just the right height - if you will grant me that Barack Obama really knew that there are just 50 states and not 57 as he has claimed.)

"The standoffishness of hard-core conservatives"? You mean the people who first supported Rick Perry and then supported Newt Gingrich and are now supporting Rick Santorum? Does any thinking person believe that Rick Santorum will be able to withstand Romney's campaign attacks in California or New York? Santorum wants to take contraception away from women and porn away from men. The guy has no chance. The Romney campaign has done a great job targeting the people who want lobster. Are they supposed to waste time and money marketing to the standoffish people who will buy the cheeseburger to save a nickel no matter what?

The bottom line is that so far the choice of lobster has been chosen more than all the other menu options combined. The Atlantic seems to think lobster should have been chosen by everyone.

The only thing that matters is that in November when the choice is between the $8 lobster and the $2 trillion Arugula Caesar salad - the choice will be clear.

Michigan Results in a Nutshell

Last night Ann Romney at the end of a long list thanked Kid Rock for helping her husband win the Michigan Primary. And last night Rick Santorum failed to thank Michael Moore even though Santorum's plea for Democrats to cross over and vote for him was a cause that the fat film-maker took up con mucho gusto.

Some people have speculated that the cross-over - voting as a joke - support was equal to about 6% of Santorum's overall total in Michigan. That 6% may get him a couple of delegates but it will in hindsight be the final nail in the coffin of his campaign. I hope the Romney campaign doesn't miss the opportunity to cudgel Santorum over the head with this issue. Stress things like "Santorum claims to be the real conservative in the race but then he looks for support from people like Michael Moore. Who does he think he is? Arlen Spector?"

Politics ain't beanbag.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If they made this Ryan Braun saga into a movie - would Harrison Ford be too old to play Bud Selig?... 25 Photos of Mitt Romney looking perfectly normal. Call me a sap but I think these are cool... Just saying but if I was to go to the trouble to tamper with Ryan Braun's urine sample - I probably would have leaked the positive test results to ESPN too. It would be amusing if someone went to a lot of trouble to frame Ryan Braun but some Mr. Bean courier and his son screwed things up by being incompetent... Walter Arlington Latham (the Freshest Man on Earth) - they really did have much better nicknames back in the old days... I still think that if a player in any sport fails a drug test - the team should lose that roster spot for the entire length of the suspension. For example - if Braun was suspended for 50 games then the Brewers would lose a spot on their 25-man roster until Braun came back. I think that would end much of the cheating if the team had to share in the punishment... No conspiracy - Ron Paul and his people just don't like Rick Santorum... Ryan Braun may have a suit against MLB under HIPAA Privacy laws. The leaking of personal health information and the resultant damage that caused I'm guessing is very actionable. I wouldn't doubt if that is the potential legal action Braun was referring to yesterday... Flying owl filmed at 1000 frames per second - very cool... Nick Punto is the second player to wear number 5 since Nomar Garciaparra left town and both players wore the number in homage to Nomar (who they first checked with to make sure it was OK). Since Wade Boggs left town - 11 players have worn number 26 and none of them were honoring Boggs. Think of that the next time some uninformed sportswriter writes about retiring Boggs' number. The Red Sox aren't interested and neither are the fans... Kenny Fucking Powers!...

Bad Lip Reading - Rick Santorum

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

This is basically the state of Rick Santorum's campaign. I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for him... Supposedly the Blue Jays turned down a trade that would have sent Brett Lawrie to the Mariner's for Michael Pineda. I think Toronto was correct to reject that trade. Lawrie could be a monster every day player and a sleeper in many fantasy baseball leagues... On this day in 2004 we got to see Janet Jackson's breast at halftime of the Super Bowl. I was not impressed... Who knew? Bradbury Robinson threw the first forward pass in football history on September 5, 1906. He was playing for Saint Louis University. You would think that Bradbury Robinson would be better known...  Mara likes Coughlin because he's focused on winning not his image (unlike some other head coach in NYC)... I wonder if players who donate to Peter Gammons' Hot Stove charity get better and more positive coverage during the season?... Just saying but Eli Manning had a poster of Tonya Harding on his wall growing up. I think there is still some yearning there... Who knew? Joel Murray who played Freddie Rumsen on Mad Men is Bill Murray's brother...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

I don't care if this is real or Photoshop - still awesome

Heh heh - when you search for "Mendoza line" on Baseball-reference.com it brings you to this page

Incredibly detailed panoramic virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel

Sterling Archer Draper Pryce

Awesome - The Scream

New Yorker cartoons with Rick Santorum captions

Tom Curran - Bill Belichick is the Steve Jobs of NFL coaches

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

All day yesterday I was wondering where Rex Ryan was watching the playoffs. It certainly wasn't from the sidelines... Not to toot my own horn but I did predict Denver winning the game last Thursday... I hope next year the Patriots use the money they wasted on Albert Haynesworth and Ochocinco to get the fans something nice... I am waiting for Rick Santorum to confess that he enjoys accubation - the practice of eating or drinking while lying down. That would be cool... Ever see the World's Strongest Man competitions where they have those huge guys running a 100-yard dash carrying hundreds of pounds? Wouldn't one of those guys make a great short-yardage back in the NFL? Assuming of course they could pass the steroids tests... There is a species of fish that hides from prey by swimming into the anus of a sea cucumber. The fish is called a Pearlfish but I wonder if science would be willing to rename the species the JimmyCarterfish... Just when you think Stephen Hawking couldn't get any more awesome you learn that he likes to go to top shelf whiskey tasting events... Newt Gingrich is annoying in large part because he is a constant autohagiorapher - one who speaks or writes about themselves in a smug fashion... So what did Bill Maher Tweet about Tim Tebow today? Yeah - thought so... Man who creates amazing Rube-Goldberg machines in his apartment... Am I the only one who has trouble sleeping because I'm worried about the status of Tom Brady's playoff beard?... Just saying it for the record - Jorge Posada is not a Hall of Fame player... How big of a surprise would it be if Mitt Romney admitted he was a autotonsorilist - one who cuts his own hair. Just a Flowbee and some "product" he buys from WalMart... Just a reminder but Hall of Famer Barry Larkin was basically kicked to the curb in Cincinnati for one and a half seasons of Felipe Lopez.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Prior to this NFL season what do you think the Las Vegas odds on a prop bet that a QB could break Dan Marino's 28-year old single season passing record but still not win the MVP? I'd have to guess that the odds on that prop bet would have to have been at least 500-1... American's deadliest sniper punched Jesse Ventura in the face... George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp using slave labor. The part of that statement that Newt Gingrich doesn't like is the fact they grew hemp... What will happen first - the Red Sox finally get the compensation for letting Theo Epstein go to the Cubs or 2012 Opening Day? Only 90 days till Opening Day... Heh heh - Ron Paul pictures with Ron Swanson's words... Last year the Patriots had veteran tight end Alge Crumpler on the roster where he was both a productive player and valuable role model for rookies Aaron Hernandez and Ron Gronkowski on how to be a NFL tight end. I think that example by Crumpler is really paying dividends this season. I would not be surprised to see Crumpler become a coach some day... Very amusing - Issac Newton's list of sins... I thought of a new dessert. You make Rice Krispie squares but instead of Rice Krispies you use Cocoa Pebbles. You have a dessert that is brown, sticky and maybe even a little frothy. I'd call them Santorum Squares... Today's Tweet of the day:

William Keane @largebill681h
Obama plans campaign decrying "do-nothing" congress. Did he forget that as a senator all he did was vote "Present" and look for another job?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Traditionally New Year's Day was THE big day for college bowl games. This year - NO bowl games at all - not even a lousy Beef O Brady bowl. Tradition don't mean shit to the NCAA. Only TV money is important to those humunculuses in suits... This morning I was thinking that Chris Young would be a good signing for the Red Sox but then I saw that this thought and the reasoning behind it was already recently voiced... I wonder how former Patriots LB Ted Johnson is doing? I hope his early Alzheimer's and concussion related issues haven't worsened... Interesting - Christopher Hitchens a religious man? Father Barron says "Yes"... Huston Street is the highest paid player on the Padres but that should change after Carlos Quentin's arbitration is squared away. It just strikes me as strange that the two biggest salaries on any MLB payroll would come via trade weeks apart... "There are two kinds of people in his up-tight world: his victims and his women. And sometimes you can't tell them apart." That's the tagline from the 1967 Lee Marvin movie Point Blank. Can you imagine that tagline being used for a movie today?... Of course a contract has yet to be signed and who knows Scott Boras could pull a rabbit out of his hat but I think the most overlooked story this Hot Stove Winter is how Boras screwed over Ryan Madson trying to squeeze a 4th year out of the Phillies. Do you think Madson would be happy with a 3-year $33 million deal about now?... Washington fired its entire defensive staff including coordinator Nick Holt following the Alamo Bowl loss... The Texas Rangers have a prospect named Rougned Odor. I love that name! I just hope someone has that sense to make his walk-up music That Smell by Lynyrd Skynyrd... Imagine planning to go to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch your favorite team play its bowl game only to be turned away because Rick Santorum is taking up all the available seating with his entourage and press coverage? I doubt you'd be inclined to vote for Santorum after that. And I have to say that the phrase "Santorum found at Buffalo Wild Wings" sounds very much like a health code violation... Just a reminder - when the Twins traded Johan Santana to the Mets they got prospects Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey in the deal. How's that working out for ya Twins fans?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Only 4 players remain from the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox team - Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis. I think after today's hit job in the Boston Globe by Bob Hohler that it is very likely that none of those guys are back for 2012... Here's my one sentence recap of Rick Santorum's performance at last night's GOP debate, "My proposed war with China will lead to many manufacturing jobs for this country"... Theo Epstein is gone. He'll probably be announced as the new Chicago Cubs GM either today or tomorrow... I've mentioned before that I'm a fan of Dan LeBatard's show but this article makes me like it all the more... The reason I call Hohler's article a hit piece is because the only two real new revelations are Terry Francona's marital issues and pain pill taking and also the ownership being torn over Theo's wanting to sign Carl Crawford. Francona showed much more grit managing hurt than most of his players and if marital issues are open game - how come the Globe never mentioned anything about owner John Henry's when he was going through a divorce? The Carl Crawford thing is just PR for certain front office folks who like to smear people on their way out of town. A goodbye gift for Theo from Larry Lucchino most likely... Herman Cain has pinned all his hopes on his 9-9-9 plan and that will be his undoing. As Rick Santorum pointed out people in states like New Hampshire will not like having to pay any sales tax and have gone out of their way to avoid sales taxes. Also the plan puts extra burden on retired seniors as this article points out. The more scrutiny that is given the plan the more unrealistic it will appear... Not many people know that the Occupy Wall Street "movement" actually started as an Ablutophobia (fear of washing or bathing) Convention in New York and kinda of just mushroomed from there... Mitt Romney was the clear winner of last night's debate.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Interesting - Lloyd's of London sues Saudi Arabia over 9/11 attacks. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't settled out of court so that Saudi Arabian leaders don't have to undergo the discovery process.

- This was funny and disturbing - what's the weirdest things you've caught hotel guests doing?

- I wasn't aware of the "Santorum" Google problem till I read this. Does it make me a bad person that I found this amusing?

- 27 amazing photos of Iceland

- Interesting behind the scenes look at the filming of the Bill Belichick NFL films documentary

- Interesting interview with Nathan Fillion about one of my favorite shows Castle

- You cannot hope to stop Tom Selleck's mustache - you can only hope to contain it

- Who knew? Thomas Jefferson - Bad Alumnus