Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Every time I hear a Democrat complain about the way voting works now that the Republicans are in charge - I think back to the way Obamacare was rammed through the House of Representatives and the Senate. Then I think, "Payback is a bitch"... Heh heh... Another reason for Trump to play hardball with Canada about their 270% tariffs on dairy - America has a record stockpile of cheese... I am ashamed to admit I've never read a book by Harlan Ellison. I plan to remedy that ASAP! I'm starting with "Repent, Harlequin" Said the Ticktockman...  Time for upper management at CNN to admit that HLN (Headline News) is just a money losing proposition in the age of social media especially Twitter... Rob Gronkowski is the poster child for an NFL player handling his earnings this way. Gronk lives off the money he makes from endorsements and commercials. All of his salary from the Patriots gets invested for Rob's retirement... I still think that the reason the finale of The Sopranos went black is because Tony held up a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad and HBO had to edit it out...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Tough to pick a team to root for between the four remaining MLB teams but kind of leaning towards the Orioles just because of the great job Dan Duquette has done. It should be remembered that he only got the job because other candidates deemed it too radioactive... Pool and beer help you live longer! Later today I'm going to work on extending my life expectancy!...  Would love to see an episode of Louie where Louis CK goes for a picnic in the park with his kids and runs into the missing Russian from The Sopranos...  39-years ago tonight SNL first took to the air. The original thought was to have Albert Brooks as the permanent host... For proper elocution a person must have consistent vowel movements... This website is awesome! I will buy all my Christmas gifts there!... Block Me Amedaeus would be a great name for a fantasy football team...  Fantastic article on the one of a kind Bob Ryan... Always remember that the word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent". To truly listen you should be silent... Big as a hat! Great joke from Big Stupid Tommy... The Obama Drone artist seems like a great guy...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Watched the Pacquiao-Marquez fight while at a poker game. Everyone who had money on the fight (including me) thought Marquez was going to win this time... On this day in history in 1941 - Bob Feller becomes the first major league baseball player to enlist after Pearl Harbor. More than anything that he did on the field - it was this act that Ted Williams always associated most with Feller (and perhaps the thing he was most jealous of)... Interesting look back at The Sopranos by Alan Sepinwall. Put me in the camp who is more curious about what happened to the Russian that whether Tony lived or died at the end... When Marquez knocked out Pacquiao some at the poker table thought he might be dead. Seriously... Ken Levine decodes Hollywood-speak... Hipsters may think they invented snark but that was the name of author Jack London's sailboat over a hundred years ago...Oyster Pirates would be a good name for a band...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I think that the trump card for those that argue that The Wire was the superior TV series over The Sopranos is the fact that Eric Mangini never had a cameo on The Wire... If Kevin Towers is let go as the GM of the Padres this off-season - I'd like to see Paul DePodesta get another shot as a GM... Have you seen that AXE shampoo commercial that claims that 85% of girls find dandruff on a man to be a turn-off? What the heck is wrong with that other 15% of women polled?... Random thought - do you think Donny Most is living comfortably off the residuals from Happy Days?... Speaking of The Sopranos - today is Lorraine Bracco's (Dr. Melfi) 55th birthday...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Jermaine Dye is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career. The 35-year old Dye hit his 17th HR of the year last night and is on pace to hit 40 for the season... This is very funny. Elvis Grbac you sexy thing - or not... Today would have been the 313th birthday of William Pepperrell one of the original American Horatio Alger-type success stories and the man for whom Pepperrell, Mass is named for... A-Rod passed Reggie Jackson in HR last night for 11th place on the all-time list with 564 HR's. Jim Thome is now just 10 HR away from catching Reggie too... I have seen every episode of Band of Brothers dozens of times and it never dawned on me that the actor who played Lt. Jones - Colin Hanks - was the son of Band of Brothers executive producer and uber star Tom Hanks... As I mentioned in an earlier post - the Red Sox magic number is now 86 which happens to be the number of episodes made of the HBO blockbuster The Sopranos. The Wire had fewer episodes but was the much better show... Opponents are hitting better than .300 against the Twins' Kevin Slowey. His 10 wins are a mirage... Today would have been Willie Mosconi's 96th birthday. In my mind Mosconi is without a doubt the greatest pool player who ever lived...