Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Has to be described as one of the worst trades in history. In 2012 the Red Sox traded Theo Epstein to the Cubs for Chris Carpenter. No - not that Chris Carpenter. This Chris Carpenter... Rob Gronkowski needs just 1 more receiving TD to tie Stanley Morgan for the all-time lead in Patriots history. Gronkowski is in just his 7th season with the team. Morgan played 12 seasons with the Pats... Done and done!... I'm still disappointed that "the Junk Mailer" never caught on as a nickname for Brett Favre... If I were President I would make Bobby Orr my Ambassador to Canada. Not kidding. Who can you think of that would be better? And I don't care that he's not a US citizen... Heh heh... My favorite Cubs fan is not Bill Murray - it's Bob Newhart...  Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows... ESPN reports that 11 out of 12 Microsoft tablets the Patriots were using were defective... It might surprise you but I think many more Boston fans are rooting for Terry Francona and the Indians than for Theo Epstein and the Cubs. Me among them...

Worcester and Women's Rights

On this date in 1850 Worcester, MA was host to the first National Women's Rights Convention. That put Worcester on the forefront of the woman's suffrage movement. Seeing how Worcester was also the birthplace of the birth control pill - it can be argued that Worcester was one of the most important cities in terms of woman's rights in the entire US.

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros- Johnny Appleseed

Just because.

Linky Links

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

- 100 of the best leadership quotes of all-time

- Interesting tidbit

- The inside story on David Ortiz's injuries. This should put to bed the idea of him coming back for another season.

- 19 beautiful bookstores in the US. I've only been to one listed - 18 more to go!

- Speaking of books - 52,000 books being re-shelved at the NYC Public Library

- Heh heh

Warren Zevon

In my opinion it is criminal that Warren Zevon is not already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is outrageous that he hasn't even been among the nominees - unlike Chaka "freakin'" Khan!

Here's a good look at the injustice of situation.

Recently I had a post about Lawyers, Guns and Money but I just wanted to clarify - that post was about me becoming a more mature adult - not a criticism of Zevon.

The irony is I doubt Warren Zevon himself would give a damn about the Hall of Fame. He'd just want you to appreciate your sandwich.

Patriots vs the NFL

Bill Belichick is all done using the Microsoft tablets and he makes no bones about it.

The NFL and Microsoft were basically impotent in their response. But you know this rebellious act by Belichick rejecting one of the bigger sponsors of the NFL has to stick in the craw of Commissioner Goodell and others at the NFL offices in NYC.

This latest battle of the Patriots vs the NFL is just a preview to another one that is just on the horizon though.

According to ESPN's Mike Reiss - Tom Brady now needs just 5 more wins to become the NFL's all-time leader in wins by a QB (including playoffs). Most likely this will come in week 12 in New York vs the Jets or week 13 in Foxboro vs the Rams. How can the Commissioner not honor that historic accomplishment? How can he not honor that accomplishment in person? But also how can he dare show his face in Foxboro?

In an interesting way Roger Goodell is now in the bizarre position  (given the fractious relationships involved) of hoping the New England Patriots go undefeated in the next 5 games so if he does have to go to a Patriots game at least it will be in New York (where he'll be safe).

As if 2016 couldn't get any stranger. Roger Goodell now rooting for the Patriots.

Public Service Announcement

Experts say putting ice cubes up the rectums of unconscious people has no physiological benefit and can even lead to seizures and stroke.

Linky Links

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

- The day a young Big Papi showed me - and his teammates - how to handle sexual harassment. I bet Ortiz probably doesn't remember this act of kindness. He probably figured that it's just the way men - real men - are supposed to act.

 - My guess is that Chuck Yeager is probably more proud of this than even of breaking the sound barrier. Read the book Yeager to fully understand the circumstances behind this great achievement.

- Heh heh

- My idea of great art

- Oral Sex in the Bible

Joke of the Day

Heh heh.

Bill worked in a pickle factory. He had been employed there for a number of years when he came home one day to confess to his wife that he had a terrible compulsion. He had an urge to stick his penis into the pickle slicer. His wife suggested that he should see a sex therapist to talk about it, but Bill said he would be too embarrassed. He vowed to overcome the compulsion on his own. One day a few weeks later, Bill came home and his wife could see at once that something was seriously wrong. "What's wrong, Bill?" she asked. "Do you remember that I told you how I had this tremendous urge to put my penis into the pickle slicer?" "Oh, Bill, you didn't!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I did." he replied. "My God, Bill, what happened?" "I got fired." "No, Bill. I mean, what happened with the pickle slicer?" "Oh...she got fired too."

Linky Links

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

- Fantastic long read on Leonard Cohen. The letters with his past love Marianne were very touching.

- The horror! The horror!

- Why you need a "Deloading" phase in life

-  Do as we say - not as we do. The liberal education system in a nutshell.

- My fingers cramped up just watching this guy. What talent!

Teddy Roosevelt

Yet another Teddy Roosevelt post. Probably the last for a while but I figured I'd add another of my favorite Roosevelt quotes:

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt (Paris Sorbonne,1910)

Teddy Roosevelt

Hey look another post about Teddy Roosevelt! Roosevelt was very opinionated and didn't think very highly of Thomas Jefferson.

Roosevelt thought Jefferson didn't deserve credit for the Louisiana Purchase. Teddy argued that US settlers moving into the territory would have forced the matter anyway. It was far cheaper for France to sell us the "rights" to the land than defend it militarily. Besides fighting the French would have forced the US into an alliance with England which Napoleon also really could not afford at the time.

Interesting perspective from a man who was both quite a student of US history and a maker of US history.

Teddy Roosevelt

On this day in history Teddy Roosevelt is shot in the chest by would-be assassin. He continues his speech and when asked about his health he responds that he's as healthy as a "Bull Moose" and thus the Bull Moose Party is born. In his honor - here's one of my favorite quotes from Teddy:

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. 

Linky Links

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

- The NHL and the Dallas Stars get it. The NFL prevented the Cowboys from wearing similar stickers honoring the fallen police officers.

EDIT: The NFL might not get it but Bill Belichick certainly does.

- 69-years ago today. Here's the recreation of Yeager breaking the sound barrier from The Right Stuff

- Holy crap. I'm a bad person for laughing at this but I keep picturing Tony Romo's reaction innocently opening an attachment from a couple of "fans".

- Kobe Bryant was one competitive MFer

- A day late but Happy 241st birthday to the US Navy

Alex Trebek is the Best

Alex has reached the stage where he gives zero fucks.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

For the rest of the season NFL Redzone should just switch over to the Patriots as soon as Tom Brady gets the ball - no matter where he is on the field... If I were President - I would make Bill Belichick my Press Secretary. Those press briefings would be epic... Sometimes I get the feeling that a generation of precious snowflakes is now raising a generation of pussies... A guy with a whistle in a bar is most likely either a cop, a referee or a guy traumatized by prison rape... One of my deepest fears is of fire-breathing Koalas. Wheh - feels good to get that off my chest. Now the healing can begin... Cool photography! Beautiful women wearing nothing but milk (you heard me - nothing but milk!)... Two things Americans really don't like thinking about factually - our past and where our food actually comes from... "Osweiler" is German for "should have kept Hoyer"...

David Ortiz Says Goodbye

Boston Sports

Since Y2K the Patriots have won 4 Super Bowls, the Red Sox have won 3 World Series, the Celtics won the NBA Championship, and the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. In addition since 2000 Boston College won 4 NCAA Hockey Championships and Boston University added another. If you wanted to include New England as a region - you could also add in Providence College's win in 2015 and Yale's win in 2013 (coached by Worcester's Keith Allain no less).

We have been witness all-time greats such at Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, David Ortiz, Kevin Garnett and Zedano Chara (you can argue Chara if you like but I have a soft spot for the big guy).

I don't bring this up to brag. Just to remind myself and other Boston sports fans just how blessed we have been.

Lawyers, Guns and Money

I'm getting older and my perspective is changing. I'm not at the "get off my lawn" stage but in many smaller things I've begun noticing a difference. What got me thinking about this was recently listening to the song, Lawyers, Guns and Money by Warren Zevon. I found myself listening to the song in a whole new way.

Now you have to understand that Warren Zevon holds a special place in my heart. He was the first concert I ever went to see (front row at WPI as a sophomore in high school) and Excitable Boy was the first album I ever shelled out my own money to buy (also sophomore year in HS - used from Al Bum's Records).

Anyway, recently I heard the lyrics:

I was gambling in Havana
I too a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this

Suddenly now I'm thinking, "When is this guy going to grow up and handle his own damn problems? Why does his dad need to always bail him out?" Seriously - I was having those thoughts. Now I hear the song and I'm judgmental. I think "This guy either needs to stop habitually getting into these jams or come back to the US and become a responsible citizen."

There was no event with me or my kids to make me start thinking this way. And I know the song is made up - there's no actual lawyers or gunmen being put at risk. Maybe, just maybe I'm the one who has finally grown up.

I Believe

I believe that men and women are equal except maybe physiologically. Men are on the whole stronger but women can create new life (which is awesome). The idea of a woman not being able to drive or vote or even pick out her own clothes is inherently ridiculous to me.

I believe that homosexuality is genetic and that homo and heterosexuals should have the same rights including the right to marry the one you love. I believe the idea that homosexuals should be stoned to death is barbaric and that the idea that there are no homosexuals in a country of 77 million (Iran) is farcical.

I believe that slavery is not just wrong but an inherent evil that should be stamped out.

I believe bacon is delicious.

To some my beliefs make me an Islamophobe. To those people I say "Screw you!"

Consider that the Westboro Baptist Church wouldn't even go so far as to disagree with some of the above sentiments yet they are rightly scorned and ridiculed in the US. How come that ridicule and scorn is never extended to Muslims who believe "Allah hates fags"?

I stand behind my beliefs. Do you stand behind yours?

EDIT: I wrote the above two years ago and still stand behind it

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

In betting as in investments - past performance is not indicative of future results. Looking at you Notre Dame... Heh heh... The Red Sox are down 2 games to zero to the Indians. I am saddened by the thought that there are children as old as three in New England who have never seen a Red Sox World Series win in their lifetimes... Holy crap!... If I ever met Gwyneth Paltrow - I would tell her how much I enjoyed her in Friends just to try and tick her off... Well that would explain things... Kevin Youkilis, the Greek God of Walks, saw 292 3-0 counts in his career and never swung at the next pitch... On my bucket list is to be the second Vice President to be accused of murder. A man can dream right!... Shameful confession - the first text I ever send was to place a football bet... Heh heh... I am proposing a new physics theorem - Schrodinger's Keno where your Keno numbers never appear when observed as they come up on the screen... Still amazed that John Kruk was able to turn exactly 100 MLB HR and being a slob into an ESPN announcing gig for so long...

Donald Trump

Now there's no denying exactly what sort of person Donald Trump is and how unfit he is to be President. Bill Maher seems to have summed up the situation when he observed "The GOP now finds itself handcuffed to a dead hooker." Just a few weeks ago the bumper sticker "Trump/Pence 2016 - No Fat Chicks" would have clearly been seen as a joke - now?

Now? Now you know there will be more than one jackass who dresses as Donald Trump for Halloween and later gets arrested for grabbing random women by the pussy.

Good thing that Republicans (and Democrats) have an alternative.

The (A)CDC

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) since it is funded by Federal tax dollars really should be called the American Center for Disease Control. Yes I am advocating for a name change to the ACDC.

Just think of some of the public service announcement possibilities! The ACDC can boast about how effectively they use tax dollars in a spot called "The ACDC - Dirty Diseases Done Dirt Cheap." Or maybe do a commercial geared to a specific disease like, "The ACDC - For those About to Fight Ebola (We Salute You)."

Make it so!

Praise Be Unto He

Linky Links

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

- Interesting oral history style profile of Bill Belichick. In typical ESPN fashion though - all negative comments are anonymously sourced.

- Heh heh

- Garbage in - garbage out: what you spend timing reading changes your brain

- Nice profile on Hanley Ramirez and the changes he's made this season

- Heh heh

- Never thought of Chris Bosh as a Hall of Famer but this article changed my thinking

- 15-yard penalty for sexually suggestive act!

- The 21-day no complaint experiment. I might actually try doing this.

Joey Ramone - What a Wonderful World

Just heard this song. I might have to add it to my list of Best Cover Songs. And seeing how that list is over 10-years old now - it might be time to update.

Protest

The Boston Celtics showed "unity" in locking arms last night during the national anthem prior to the first pre-season game in Amherst, MA. The Los Angeles Lakers are also locking arms during the anthem.

I have no problem at all with these protests. They aren't exactly anything new under the sun though. Here's the 1960-61 Boston Celtics team photo - making a statement of civil rights equality.

As I've said before - I also don't have a problem with Colin Kaepernick doing this. What I do have a problem with is many of the same sports writers and sports talking heads defending and praising Kaepernick are the same ones who knocked or belittled Tim Tebow for doing this. Both players silently kneeling - one in protest and one in thanks.

I would love to have a scorecard for the hypocrites on this so I'd be better informed of which voices to mute.

If I Were Rich and Famous

If I were rich and famous I would buy tickets to all the top sporting events and sit in very TV friendly locations. But I wouldn't go as myself - I would go dressed as a Scary Clown and I would sit emotionless for the entire game. You know the TV crews and announcers would have to put you on screen because it would be creeping them out.

Basically the creepy version of Rainbow Head Guy.

Then after a season of people wondering - who is Scary Clown Guy? You sell the rights to unveil who is under the mask during half-time of the Super Bowl for an unreal amount of money. I don't care who the half-time act is - people would be tuning in for the unveiling of Scary Clown Guy.

Then the mask is removed and it's - GASP! - Will Ferrell!

And people would ask him to put the mask back on.

Linky Links

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

- Cool - Blue Apron actually puts all their recipes online for free

- 11 unusual places to have a beer in the US

- Another example why hockey players are the best

- Another example of why Kevin Garnett is the best

- Now that you mention it...

- Why To-Do Lists are actually counter-productive

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

In New England yesterday Big Papi played his last regular season game as a member of the Boston Red Sox but viewership of that game was dwarfed by viewership of the last Patriots game without Tom Brady. That shows where the sports priorities are in Boston... Roger Goodell continues to be well liked in Foxboro... A remake of Murder on the Orient Express should go over just as well as the recent remake of Ben Hur... An anagram for "Elon Musk's trip to Mars" is "Trump looms as stinker"... This is the ad the Red Sox ran in yesterday's Boston Globe to honor David Ortiz. It should be noted that both the Red Sox and Globe have the same owner... Every time I find a dead fruit fly in the head of my beer I think, "That's the way he wanted to die"...  Maybe it's just me but I consider the TV remote control as a much bigger invention than sliced bread... All of David Ortiz's Fenway Park HR since 2001... "With Great Pumpkin come great responsibility" - Linus... I don't care about yesterday's win versus the Patriots - I still say that Rex Ryan is just Rich Kotite with better PR and a foot fetish... Heh heh... What question has caused more fights among friends? Last year's "Is the dress blue or gold"? Or this year's "Hillary of Trump"?...

Linky Links

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

- Heh heh - this election is going cray-cray

- His Majesty is the best!

- IoT (Internet of Things) is going to leave many devices open to being hacked - like this TV a Munich pharmacy was using for ads but was hacked to show porn

- Definitely going to hell for laughing at this

- Heh heh

- Fentanyl and heroin are scary and now deaths from overdose are higher in rural areas than in cities

- This was funny - the one about Scar's real name was the best

The Hero's Journey

The Hero's Journey from Iskander Krayenbosch on Vimeo.

The Hero's Journey based on Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces and borrowed by Hollywood over and over.

Top 5 - Movies I Have Never Seen

There are some very popular movies that I have never seen and at this point in my life I have no plans whatsoever to see.

1. Avatar - the most watched movie of all time. You would have to pump me full of gin to watch blue Ferngully. Not going to happen (especially during football season)
2. Twilight - any of the movies
3. Napoleon Dynamite - when people make their Vote for Pedro or uncle Rico references I have no idea what they are talking about. And I have zero interest in learning.
4. Frozen - used to see every Disney movie but kids are grown passed that point now and this flick just missed the window
5. Raging Bull - this is surprising but I have no interest in seeing this movie

World Famous Detective

I have a soft spot for the movie Murder on the Orient Express. Even though I've seen the movie about 20-times there's one piece of language that gets me thinking every time. 

In the movie - when people first hear the name Hercule Poirot - the reaction is the same. They all ask "The world famous detective?" That always gets me thinking. Is there such a thing as a world famous detective? I've racked my brain and I cannot think of a single one - not past nor present. 

Maybe its just me but that realization strikes me that vampires are probably closer to reality than characters like Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes.

Linky Links

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

- Anthony Bourdain's cinematographer thinks Portland, Maine is the best place in the world to spend your summers

- It's funny because it's true!

- Albert Einstein was a genius in more than just physics

- Heh heh

- Interesting brief interview with legendary singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. The song If You Could Read My Mind is so vastly under-rated.

- How to be Jason Bourne: Multiple passports, Swiss banking and crossing borders

- Cool

Dwight Eisenhower

Some info from Dwight Eisenhower's autobiography, At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends, that I wanted to comment on.

When Eisenhower went to high school in Abilene, KS - the town paid for the schooling (with language requirements of either Latin or German) but not for athletics. The students took it upon themselves to pay for sports through an association with $.25 dues per athlete. Contrast that to today where athletics are assumed to be part of the curriculum (albeit a luxury that is the first to be threatened with cuts when budgets get tight).

I think sports are the best thing for a kid in high school and that it should be part of the curriculum. I also think that if the common sense people from Abilene saw some of the courses kids take today as electives that they would shake their head and wonder why people are spending time and money on such fluff and nonsense. 

It should also be noted that after high school graduation Eisenhower went to work. He ended up working at the ice house of a creamery working 84-hour weeks (12 hours a day - seven days a week) for $90 per month. That money went to help pay for the college education of his older brother Ed who was enrolled at Michigan. The job also probably taught him the value of his future college education and what kind of life would be there for him if he didn't study. I'm all for kids taking a year or two off after high school to work or just mature before heading off to college. 

One final note about the young Eisenhower - he really wanted to go to Annapolis but was too old by just a couple of months to enroll (he would have been 21 during his freshman year and they had a cut off of 20). Good thing for him (and for us) that the entrance exam he took was for both service academies. Can you imagine how history could have been vastly different if Eisenhower got into his first choice of college instead of going to West Point?

Heh Heh - Cool Commercial

I'll definitely try some Smith & Forge Cider as a reward to them for such an entertaining commercial.

Linky Links

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

- Wait - what? The guy operating the scoreboard in the Green Monster for the past 25-years is a Yankees fan?

- Interesting perspective: Bledsoe wonders if Romo's time is up in Dallas

- Greg Popovitch is the man

- Tim Ferriss - the Oprah of audio

- Speaking of Tim Ferriss - workout and fitness tips from Ferriss

Top 5 - Music Stars Who Choked to Death on Their Own Vomit

I'd rather choke to death on my own vomit than watch the debate tonight - a thought which got me thinking of this list. Jimi Hendrix headlines a list of musicians who choked to death on their own vomit.

1. Jimi Hendrix - guitar god
2. Bonn Scott - original lead singer for AC/DC
3. John Bohnam - drummer Led Zepplin
4. Tommy Dorsey - bandleader and brother of Jimmy Dorsey
5. Mamma Cass - rock myth has her choking on a ham sandwich which technically isn't vomit but since she really died of a heart attack anyway - I thought I'd toss her in at #5 just to round off the list.

Even though everyone knows how Bonn Scott died - his death certificate actually says "death by misadventure". Maybe that's because it was unclear if he choked on his own vomit. You can't dust for vomit you know.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'll start the rumor right now - after the NFL season Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels will be named the new head coach of USC. Makes lots of sense... Chuck Yeager not a fan of Pappy Boyington... For the good of the country - Gary Johnson should allow Belichick/Brady2016 to replace Johnson/Weld2016 on the November ballot... As a reminder - these two guys are responsible for trying to stop the Arizona Cardinals today... Rocky Balboa's first name is Robert - who knew?... In the golf game of life - the year 2016 is a Mulligan... Am I a bad person for laughing at this?...

Venezuela, Socialism, and Democratic Politics

Things are so bad in Venezuela that they are forced to buy oil from the US. Reading that article reminded me of this commercial.



Joe Kennedy's grandfather (and namesake) was one of the great capitalists of the past century and because of that all the Kennedy's are worth millions. The confluence of events makes me rethink my position on estate taxes - would Joe Kennedy think socialism was so great if he was forced to make his own way instead of being born with a net worth in the high 7 or 8 figures?

I still think the estate tax is bad because every parent should be able to leave the results of a life of hard work to their kids. But damn the Kennedy's... well just damn the Kennedy's.

Linky Links

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

- Great Vin Scully interview from a couple of years ago.

- This made me smile

- Heh heh

- Oh the irony!

- The Economist on junk science

- Interesting - is being too busy a sign of an unhappy person? Good advice to slow down and concentrate on one thing at a time.

Thank You KG

Kevin Garnett has announced his retirement. In 21 seasons he was an All-Star 15 times but it was his 5 seasons and one championship in Boston for which I'll be forever grateful to the Big Ticket.

Bill Murray

Bill Murray turned 66 on Wednesday. Here's some of the stories through the years about Murray that I found interesting or amusing.

- Bill Murray call's Kelly Lynch's husband each time the sex scene in Roadhouse comes on

- Bill Murray once got lost for years in the persona of Hunter S Thompson

- Bill Murray on the last time he saw Gilda Radner

- Seven Steps to living a Bill Murray life, by Bill Murray

- Casting Bill Murray

- Fantastic review of Bill Murray's film career

Where's Stampy?

A man mistook the eloquence of Marcus Aurelius as the "elephants of Marcus Aurelius."

Wisdom was dispensed but the man did not hear because he was expecting a circus.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Republicans having to root for Donald Trump must be like Chicago Bears fans having to root for Jay Cutler... Kudos to Bob Cousy and Holy Cross... So is that DirecTV commercial implying that Lionel Ritchie and Peyton Manning are gay lovers? Why else would Ritchie be in Mannings' home first thing in the morning with Peyton's wife nowhere to be found... And yet Johnny Pesky is not in the Hall of Fame... Suzy Kolber's Mancave would be a good name for a fantasy football team... The truth is the truth...  When Scott Boras is trying to sign a new client - how long do you think it takes him to casually mention that he got JD Drew $94 million in career earnings?... Debunking the Aquatic Ape Theory... July was National Beer Month and August was National Anal Sex Month (seriously). They should combine those two and make September National Regrets Month... Interesting - why Obama won't pardon Snowden...

Linky Links

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

- Interesting profile of Doug Stanhope.

- Awesome (in the literal sense) - 22 of the finalists for 2016 weather photo of the year

- The University of New Hampshire should be ashamed of itself

- Eric McErlain returns to writing on hockey. Hooray!

- Heh heh - Tom Selleck's Mustache

Niall Ferguson: The 6 Killer Apps of Prosperity

Very interesting talk by economist/historian Niall Ferguson on the 6 killer apps of prosperity. He lists certain "apps" as the driving force explaining Western domination in the last century and also how these "apps" are why "rest-ern" civilizations are catching or passing Western nations today. The West's killer apps are:

1. Competition

2. The Scientific Revolution

3. Property Rights

4. Modern Medicine

5. The Consumer Society

6. The Work Ethic

I can also highly recommend Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money.

Red Sox Magic Number

With most of the sportsworld attention focused on the NFL today - just a reminder the Red Sox Magic Number to win the AL East is now just 12.

In a Gadda Da Vida

You don't hear this classic enough. When I hear this song I normally think of Bart Simpson tricking the church organist into playing it under the guise of "In a Garden of Eden". Or I think of the climatic sequence in the movie Manhunter.

The Kardashian Conundrum

"The amount I care about the Kardashians cannot be measured in Planck lengths." - Chris Lynch

The above statement causes a conundrum. Those who like the Kardashians probably think, "Cool he's mentioning the Kardashians but is planking still a thing?"

Meanwhile, those who understand Planck lengths have probably never heard about the Kardashians.

Linky Links

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

- Is this the cover of the next Wheeler Walker Jr. CD? Or a reference to an email from a former Secretary of State? Or both?

- Navy SEALS about to get more lethal

- Cool - a black hole eating a star

- Maybe the most interesting man in sports.

- Heh heh

- Interesting - the contract with NBC has no accounted for $100 million in student financial aid at Notre Dame

- Heh heh

Clancy Brown - That Guy Hall of Famer

Bill Simmons (the artist previously known as the Boston Sportsguy) came up with the idea of "that guy" - you know the actor you would see on TV or in a movie and you would know some of his roles but not his name. Well Clancy Brown is a "That Guy" Hall of Famer. 

Be honest - did you ever hear of Clancy Brown? Some of you may have said yes but I bet the vast majority said "Clancy who?" Take a look at some of his roles and I'd bet that even if you don't know his name (ergo the "that guy" appellation) you can picture him in your head. 

- Viking Lofgren - Bad Boys 
- The Kurgan - Highlander 
- Captain Byron Hadley - The Shawshank Redemption 
- the voice of Mr. Krab - SpongeBob SquarePants 

Clancy's had many, many more roles but I think you can see my point. Clancy Brown - That Guy Hall of Famer.

Linky Links

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

- Can this be a real thing? Genius fake commercial.

- Johnny Cash passed 13-years ago yesterday.

- Good for the Eagles of Death Metal

- Is Gary Johnson the fittest Presidential candidate of all-time?

- Heh heh

Hillary Clinton and the Elephant Man

John Merrick : There's something I've been meaning to ask you for some time now.
Dr. Frederick Treves : What's that?
John Merrick : Can you cure me?
Dr. Frederick Treves : No. We can care for you, but we can't cure you. 

Hillary Clinton: There's something I've been meaning to ask you for some time now. 
Huma Abedin: What's that? 
Hillary Clinton: Can you get me elected? 
Huma Abedin: No. We can care for you, but we can't get you elected. 

John Merrick : I am not an animal. I am a human being. I am a man. 

Hillary Clinton: I am not a criminal. I'm not Donald Trump. I am a woman! 

To Love Somebody - Bee Gees

Such a great song. I can't hear this song enough.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

How about them Patriots!... Awesome - 15 of National Geographic's Photos of the Year... Where's Frank Sinatra when you need him? The Chairman of the Board wouldn't put up with this election... Originally I thought New England should go with the "missing man" formation on the first offensive play from scrimmage and take the penalty for Tom Brady but everyone doing their job was the right way to go... Heh heh... "Kale Smoothie" should be a euphemism for diarrhea...  I would pay good money to see a re-make of the movie Barfly if it had Jay Cutler playing the Mickey Rourke role... Not 100% sure that new movie Collateral Beauty isn't supposed to be a comedy... Has anyone written about How to Talk to Girls Wearing AirPods yet?...

Trump 2016 - No Sorry 1999

An actual Doonesbury strip from 1999. Now I have to go back and see if Doonesbury made a Super Bowl prediction for this year too.

9/11

Linky Links

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

- Jake Tapper makes a good point.

- How can you not like Isaiah Thomas of the Celtics?

- Best photobomb ever!

- If it's only for one night in October - why the hell isn't that one night Halloween?

- Worth another read - Anthony Bourdain's Life Advice

- This still blows my mind - half of Earth's water might be older than the Sun

Heineken

If I had a brewery that competed against Heineken - I would have a commercial of two skunks drinking Heineken saying things like Heineken is their favorite beer and how you don't even have to leave it out in the sun for hours to get it to the way skunks like their beer.

As you can tell - not a fan of Heineken.

Les McCann and Eddie Harris - Compared to What

Was first introduced to this song 2-years ago and I just can't get enough of it.

Ted Williams

It has now been 75-years since that magical 1941 season when Ted Williams finished with a .406 batting average becoming perhaps the last man in history to ever reach .400 for a season. It should be recalled that Williams didn't even win the MVP that season with voters instead preferring Joe DiMaggio and his 56-game hitting streak.

Wasting Beer

I love beer and I make no bones about it. As old Ben Franklin put it, "Beer is proof that God loves us." That's why I don't understand people who would waste beer.

Let me tell a story that illustrates where I'm coming from.

When I went to college one of the first side-jobs I took was working at a package store (that's what we call liquor stores in New England). My job was to stock cases and handle kegs - incoming and outgoing. On my first day someone brought back a keg and I tried to refuse it - because it wasn't empty! How could you return a keg if it still had beer in it? In my mind that was just wrong on so many levels. That was the day I learned that not everyone shared my beliefs about wasting beer.

One of the biggest ways beer gets wasted is when you are at a bar or a party and you put your beer down - you go to pick your beer back up but suddenly there's more than one. Which one is yours? You don't want to grab someone else's beer - so you just go get another while your old beer sits there wasted. That doesn't happen to me because when I open a can of beer (or a can of anything else for that matter) I automatically turn the tab to the left. More than one can sitting on the table? Mine's the one with the tab turned to the side. [If it's a bottle then it's always in front of me or in my hand.]

Anyway - I love beer.

Linky Links

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

- Very cool! Two Central Mass high school football teams pay tribute to a fallen police officer tonight. Class all around!

- This is so true!

- How exercise shapes you far beyond the gym. In life pushing through is courage - pulling back regret.

- Oh just a sea lion riding a whale...

- Another cool high school football story.

Campaign 2016

I found this exchange between James Baker III and the Miller Center at the University of Virginia interesting. For background the Miller Center does oral histories of Presidencies and Baker was being interviewed regarding his role running the 1988 campaign of George Herbert Walker Bush:

Baker - He [George H.W. Bush] wants to cut regulations. He’s not going to increase taxes. He’s going to continue to maintain America’s military strength. He’s going to continue to see to it that we are respected by our allies and feared by our adversaries. I mean, it’s the same old stuff that you’re going to see—

Those were the issues the 1988 campaign wanted to stress. Same old stuff? Now we are devolved to speaking about building walls and if a candidate is a felon guilty of perjury. As Donald Trump would say, "Sad!"

Hell's Club

This came out a year ago but it is still awesome!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If (and when) Donald Trump loses this election - it would be cool if he and his wife did a re-make of Green Acres. It would be a perfect fit!... David Ortiz is just one of four players in baseball history to have 500+ home runs and three World Series rings. The others are Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Reggie Jackson... College football announcers who say "true freshman" should also be forced to say "true sophomore", "true junior" and "true senior" as well... RIP Marine... Metabolic Cascades of Dysfunction would be a good name for a fantasy football team. It's also a fancy way to say "concussions"... If Hillary Clinton were a Harry Potter character there's no doubt that she'd be Dolores Umbridge... Just a reminder - house centipedes are your friends... Would like to see Shia LeBeouf get a role in the next Star Wars movie as just some random guy who gets killed in first few minutes of the movie... Did Money Monster really already come and go from movie theaters? Is George Clooney still considered a movie star?... Sangria Law would be a great name for a bar that had bacon as a staple bar snack... Sam Bradford reached his perihelion under Chip Kelley (just wanted to use that word)... Growing up we were all told that the big danger from Mexico was killer bees. Now it's taco trucks on every corner? I call that progress!...

Warren Zevon

Warren Zevon passed away 13-years ago. If you have a sandwich today - make sure you really enjoy it.

Linky Links

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

- What happens to these cicadas is a nightmare of mine. Nature can be a viscous bitch.

- Long live the Oxford comma!

- UMass-Amherst is always making the news for the wrong reasons. Harambe died for your sins!

- I hope Las Vegas does name their NHL team the Ratpack. And I would buy one of those away jerseys.

- And speaking of Harambe...

Labor Day

Yesterday was Labor Day and it was no big deal. And I think a union is to blame.

It used to be that Memorial Day and Labor Day were the official opening and closing bookends of the summer. This was mainly because these two holidays also bookended the end and beginning of the school year. Not any more. Now school kids regularly go back to school in August a week or two before Labor Day.

This change in schedule had to have been approved by the teachers unions. There's no way school administrators force this change unless it was supported by and who knows maybe even proposed by the teachers' unions.So in essence it was a union that diluted the holiday meant to honor labor.

Yesterday was Labor Day and it was no big deal.

Linky Links

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

- Arian Foster is out there and LOVING IT! TMI but I've been commando for 4-years now.

- Fantastic Kliff Kingsbury anecdote

- Very cool - fantastic new information about the planet Jupiter

- Pop Warner football now facing concussion law suits

- Good question - just exactly how fast was this duck going?

- Interesting - I think most people have heard that cell phone signals are killing the bees but the real culprit seems to be Asian mites.

Top 5 - People and Things that Pollute My Twitter Feed

I use Twitter to jot down miscellaneous thoughts and observations but more importantly to get my news - especially about sports and science. There are a significant number of Tweets about certain people and subjects that are just continual contaminants to my time and reading enjoyment. Here are my Top 5 people and things that pollute my Twitter feed:

1. The Kardashians - I couldn't tell one of these spoiled sluts from another. They are like the herpes of Twitter in that there keeps being outbreaks of them polluting my Twitter feed.

2A. Donald Trump - the spelling adverse sayer of outrageous things. I can't wait for this election to be over.

2B. Hillary Clinton - the corrupt liar who lies. Can't believe one of these two is going to be President.

4. Dr. Pimple Popper - no I most certainly do not want to see a video of the latest gross thing she's had to pop. Literally disgusting.

5. Cats - there I said it! I guess I am more of a dog person and I also deduct 20 points from my estimate of a person's IQ any time "Caturday" is mentioned. It's not cute - it is stupid.

Just missing the list - Colin Kaepernick, Leana Dunham, Anthony Weiner and Amy Schumer.

If you haven't done so already - please follow me at @ALargeRegular

Player Comparison

Here's a comparison I thought was interesting:

Player A: Age 24 / BA .326 / OBP .376 / SLG .493 / OPS .869 / OPS+ 123
Player B: Age 32 / BA .323 / OBP .386 / SLG .457 / OPS .843 / OPS+ 120

This was kind of a trick comparison because Player A and Player B are the same person - Dustin Pedroia. The age 24 season was 2008 - the year Pedroia won the AL MVP. That was also the year he led the AL in hits, runs and doubles. His age 32 numbers are from this season. The comparison was to show just how good Pedroia has been this season.

He might not be in the 2016 AL MVP conversation like Mookie Betts - but Pedey is having a damn fine season.

Linky Links

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

- I love stories like this

- Oh the irony!

- How can you not love Charles Barkley?

- Indeed - this is an example of why grammar is important

- The cord-cutter's guide to watching college football

- This is unbelievable. High school football coach suspended because some little snowflakes got blisters in practice.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Tom Brady is going to spend at least part of his 4-game suspension supporting his alma mater Michigan. Hopefully he'll spend some of the rest of the 4 weeks suing the NFL for defamation and Roger Goodell personally for creating a hostile work environment... Things like this are a much greater threat to the Earth than climate change ever will be... Pet peeve - there's no such thing as "Defending Rookie of the Year". You can't "defend" that award as it is given by definition to a new player every year... Heh heh... If Donald Trump is elected President one of his first acts will be to have the Department of Education eliminate all spelling tests. Trump hates spelling...Wow - thanks a lot Canada!... Growing up Catholic if a priest kept a mass under an hour he was a good priest. If his mass was consistently under 45 minutes - he developed a cult following...