Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Royals fan successfully demonstrates "Irish handcuffs"
- Anthony Bourdain's life advice
- Heh heh - NFL vs NBA?
- Excellent fracking rant! "The industry has better stuff to do than argue with self-righteous morons." Words to live by.
- Interesting Star Wars backstories. Imagine Christopher Walken as Han Solo?
Monday, September 22, 2014
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Top 5 - Thoughts on the NFL
I try to avoid these discussions on sports talk radio and elsewhere but they have become unavoidable and I feel I need to put my thoughts down in order to get them out of my head. So here's 5 things I think about the current state of the NFL.
1. Ray Rice - in my book a man who hits a woman is a cowardly piece of shit. That's not to minimize female on male or same sex domestic violence but a guy hitting a woman is a special sort of despicable in my world. Rice should be gone from the NFL permanently and I hope NFL owners realize just how heinous his acts were and how radioactive he is as a player. The people who seem to be avoiding proper scrutiny though are the judge and prosecutor who enabled a slap on the wrist even though they saw the video from inside the elevator. Those are the people who should have lost their jobs by now.
2. Adrian Peterson - this one is a little more hazy. I don't believe that corporal punishment is an effective parenting tool but the debate on spanking is complex and involves one group of people telling another how best to raise their kids (in many cases people without kids end up lecturing on parenting). I give Peterson the benefit - he was a man trying to discipline his child who is not aware of his own tremendous strength. What he did to that child is abuse though and went beyond spanking or getting the belt or getting beat with a switch. Peterson is a man with 7 kids from 5 different women - so personally I have to question if he really understands the responsibility of fatherhood. Having said that you know in his world there are women lining up to be the 6th baby momma so at a certain level this becomes more of a societal issue than an NFL one. Peterson will be employed again in the NFL though I'm not sure if it will be with the Vikings.
3. Roger Goodell - he will weather the storm over Rice and Peterson. What may cost him his job is if the recent controversies compel Congress to strip the NFL of its tax exempt status. The NFL being tax exempt is a perversion of the tax code. Goodell could lose his job as a preemptive sacrificial lamb if the owners think it will satisfy Congress enough to quell the issue or Goodell could be fired as punishment from the owners if the NFL loses tax exempt status. This is the issue people should be pushing.
4. Fantasy football - I didn't feel bad avoiding Ray Rice at my fantasy football drafts. I was just being prudent. But fantasy football made me feel dirty when it came to Adrian Peterson because, if I'm honest. my first thought on hearing the news was "Crap - I gotta get him out of my lineup." Mea culpa.
5. NFL pre-game shows - one of the side benefits of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson allegations is I haven't watched a single minute of any NFL pre-game shows. I need sportcasters and ex-jocks discussing societal issues in my life just as much as I need Hollywood movie stars telling me how I should think politically. I haven't watched any of the shows and I haven't missed them.
1. Ray Rice - in my book a man who hits a woman is a cowardly piece of shit. That's not to minimize female on male or same sex domestic violence but a guy hitting a woman is a special sort of despicable in my world. Rice should be gone from the NFL permanently and I hope NFL owners realize just how heinous his acts were and how radioactive he is as a player. The people who seem to be avoiding proper scrutiny though are the judge and prosecutor who enabled a slap on the wrist even though they saw the video from inside the elevator. Those are the people who should have lost their jobs by now.
2. Adrian Peterson - this one is a little more hazy. I don't believe that corporal punishment is an effective parenting tool but the debate on spanking is complex and involves one group of people telling another how best to raise their kids (in many cases people without kids end up lecturing on parenting). I give Peterson the benefit - he was a man trying to discipline his child who is not aware of his own tremendous strength. What he did to that child is abuse though and went beyond spanking or getting the belt or getting beat with a switch. Peterson is a man with 7 kids from 5 different women - so personally I have to question if he really understands the responsibility of fatherhood. Having said that you know in his world there are women lining up to be the 6th baby momma so at a certain level this becomes more of a societal issue than an NFL one. Peterson will be employed again in the NFL though I'm not sure if it will be with the Vikings.
3. Roger Goodell - he will weather the storm over Rice and Peterson. What may cost him his job is if the recent controversies compel Congress to strip the NFL of its tax exempt status. The NFL being tax exempt is a perversion of the tax code. Goodell could lose his job as a preemptive sacrificial lamb if the owners think it will satisfy Congress enough to quell the issue or Goodell could be fired as punishment from the owners if the NFL loses tax exempt status. This is the issue people should be pushing.
4. Fantasy football - I didn't feel bad avoiding Ray Rice at my fantasy football drafts. I was just being prudent. But fantasy football made me feel dirty when it came to Adrian Peterson because, if I'm honest. my first thought on hearing the news was "Crap - I gotta get him out of my lineup." Mea culpa.
5. NFL pre-game shows - one of the side benefits of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson allegations is I haven't watched a single minute of any NFL pre-game shows. I need sportcasters and ex-jocks discussing societal issues in my life just as much as I need Hollywood movie stars telling me how I should think politically. I haven't watched any of the shows and I haven't missed them.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Heh heh - Braveheart re-written
- Seven Steps to living a Bill Murray life
- How big the extinct Megoladon sharks were in scale
- Interesting cast additions for the final season of Justified
- Heh heh - Braveheart re-written
- Seven Steps to living a Bill Murray life
- How big the extinct Megoladon sharks were in scale
- Interesting cast additions for the final season of Justified
Monday, September 15, 2014
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Am I a bad person because I laughed at this?... 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... Space Shuttle breaching the clouds... I really think many Red Sox fans are paying more attention to how Pawtucket is doing in the AAA playoffs than how Boston is doing in MLB... The word "alamo" is Spanish for the cottonwood tree. "Remember the Cottonwood" just doesn't have the same ring as a rallying cry though... Kinda like the Eagles (+3) and the under (54) tonight. If the line goes to 3.5 then I'd love Philadelphia in this game. Everyone and their brother seems to like the over which is a good time to go the other way...
Am I a bad person because I laughed at this?... 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... Space Shuttle breaching the clouds... I really think many Red Sox fans are paying more attention to how Pawtucket is doing in the AAA playoffs than how Boston is doing in MLB... The word "alamo" is Spanish for the cottonwood tree. "Remember the Cottonwood" just doesn't have the same ring as a rallying cry though... Kinda like the Eagles (+3) and the under (54) tonight. If the line goes to 3.5 then I'd love Philadelphia in this game. Everyone and their brother seems to like the over which is a good time to go the other way...
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Muhammad Ali and Andre the Giant meet and compare hand sizes. It makes you wonder if anyone could have stood up to Andre in the boxing ring. Just one solid blow from his hands would have ended most fights.
- Cool pool trick shots
- Formula E racing looks cool but not hearing the roar of the engine seems strange. Also not sure if I like the idea of having to switch cars when the batteries run low.
- Heh heh - epilepsy my cock
- Cool - soft robotic exosuits - faster please!
- Hannah Storm - what does the NFL stand for?
- The men with the red bandannas beat the USC Trojans last night. They "out-desired them."
- Muhammad Ali and Andre the Giant meet and compare hand sizes. It makes you wonder if anyone could have stood up to Andre in the boxing ring. Just one solid blow from his hands would have ended most fights.
- Cool pool trick shots
- Formula E racing looks cool but not hearing the roar of the engine seems strange. Also not sure if I like the idea of having to switch cars when the batteries run low.
- Heh heh - epilepsy my cock
- Cool - soft robotic exosuits - faster please!
- Hannah Storm - what does the NFL stand for?
- The men with the red bandannas beat the USC Trojans last night. They "out-desired them."
Friday, September 12, 2014
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
I would pay good money to see a remake of the movie Barfly if it had Jay Cutler playing the Mickey Rourke role... Archaeologists make an incredible discovery at Stonehenge... When did people first start involving God in an act of sternutation?... I would also pay good money to see a remake of the movie Paint Your Wagon if it had NFL Network's Rich Eisen playing the Lee Marvin role... Bob Ryan on the recently deceased Marvin Barnes... Sternutation by the way is sneezing. Saved you the trouble of having to look that up... If there was a Church of Bacon - I'd be a parishioner. Maybe even a priest...
I would pay good money to see a remake of the movie Barfly if it had Jay Cutler playing the Mickey Rourke role... Archaeologists make an incredible discovery at Stonehenge... When did people first start involving God in an act of sternutation?... I would also pay good money to see a remake of the movie Paint Your Wagon if it had NFL Network's Rich Eisen playing the Lee Marvin role... Bob Ryan on the recently deceased Marvin Barnes... Sternutation by the way is sneezing. Saved you the trouble of having to look that up... If there was a Church of Bacon - I'd be a parishioner. Maybe even a priest...
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Excellent oral history on Cheers. Couple of years old but still a great (re)read.
- Heh heh - Hue Grant
- This is awful - NJ prosecutor and judge who let Ray Rice walk trying to jail mother of two
- Casting Bill Murray
- Excellent oral history on Cheers. Couple of years old but still a great (re)read.
- Heh heh - Hue Grant
- This is awful - NJ prosecutor and judge who let Ray Rice walk trying to jail mother of two
- Casting Bill Murray
Monday, September 08, 2014
Dear Mr Kraft and Coach Belichick
Dear Mr Kraft and Coach Belichick,
The past two years I have traveled to Miami to watch you play the Dolphins. Both years the Patriots were clearly the better team but both years New England lost. I am not taking responsibility for the losses but I am saying intelligent men like the three of us do not believe in coincidences.
What I propose to you is simple and straightforward - you pay me $10,000 to stay home and not go to next year's game in Miami. This is a pittance to pay for an insurance policy. If you do not pay and if I go to next year's game and once again you lose - my price will go up to $20,0000.
Please consider the offer.
Sincerely,
Chris "Mush" Lynch
The past two years I have traveled to Miami to watch you play the Dolphins. Both years the Patriots were clearly the better team but both years New England lost. I am not taking responsibility for the losses but I am saying intelligent men like the three of us do not believe in coincidences.
What I propose to you is simple and straightforward - you pay me $10,000 to stay home and not go to next year's game in Miami. This is a pittance to pay for an insurance policy. If you do not pay and if I go to next year's game and once again you lose - my price will go up to $20,0000.
Please consider the offer.
Sincerely,
Chris "Mush" Lynch
Sunday, September 07, 2014
Saturday, September 06, 2014
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
As we embark on the new NFL season - consider that Alex Smith of the Chiefs is now a higher paid NFL QB than Tom Brady. Yeah - I know... Laniakea - we are so very, very small... If I were to have a one-man acoustic band that only played U2 cover songs - I'd name the band Mono... Is it interesting or ironic that some bars chill shots of Fireball?... Very cool. I hate being a pincushion... I wonder if the characters of Mayor McCheese and the Hamburglar were loosely based on Billy and Whitey Bulger...
As we embark on the new NFL season - consider that Alex Smith of the Chiefs is now a higher paid NFL QB than Tom Brady. Yeah - I know... Laniakea - we are so very, very small... If I were to have a one-man acoustic band that only played U2 cover songs - I'd name the band Mono... Is it interesting or ironic that some bars chill shots of Fireball?... Very cool. I hate being a pincushion... I wonder if the characters of Mayor McCheese and the Hamburglar were loosely based on Billy and Whitey Bulger...
Friday, September 05, 2014
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Whacky Russians
- RIP Joan Rivers. You weren't a funny woman. You were a very funny person!
- Worcester - we're number 1! We're number 1! Now get out of my fucking way!
- Pope Francis' 10 Secrets to Happiness
- Why we don't have a vaccine for Ebola yet
- Whacky Russians
- RIP Joan Rivers. You weren't a funny woman. You were a very funny person!
- Worcester - we're number 1! We're number 1! Now get out of my fucking way!
- Pope Francis' 10 Secrets to Happiness
- Why we don't have a vaccine for Ebola yet
Thursday, September 04, 2014
The NFL Middle
Tonight's first game of the 2014 NFL season is an excellent match-up. The Super Bowl Champs Seahawks at home vs MVP candidate Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers. If you were going to bet the game - who to choose? Green Bay is getting 5.5 points and the over / under is 46.5 points. The game could go either way - making this a perfect type game to play "the middle".
If you make the following 4 bets - you would create a big ole middle ground where I think there's a sweet spot for tonight's game:
6-point Tease - Seattle plus under
6-point Tease - Seattle plus over
6-point Tease - Packers plus under
6-point Tease - Packers plus over.
If you bet $100 on each - the most you could win would be $400 but the most you could lose is $200 (at least one of the bets has to come in). The benefit is you are creating a middle where as long as Seattle wins but not by more than 12 points and the total score is between 40.5 points to 52.5 points - you win! Even if Green Bay wins the game but the score remains between 40.5 and 52.5 for the total - you don't lose any money!
If you make the following 4 bets - you would create a big ole middle ground where I think there's a sweet spot for tonight's game:
6-point Tease - Seattle plus under
6-point Tease - Seattle plus over
6-point Tease - Packers plus under
6-point Tease - Packers plus over.
If you bet $100 on each - the most you could win would be $400 but the most you could lose is $200 (at least one of the bets has to come in). The benefit is you are creating a middle where as long as Seattle wins but not by more than 12 points and the total score is between 40.5 points to 52.5 points - you win! Even if Green Bay wins the game but the score remains between 40.5 and 52.5 for the total - you don't lose any money!
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
Legal Weed
More proof that government involvement could screw up a wet dream - tax revenue from pot falls far short of expectations. So expected tax revenue in Colorado was supposed to be $33 million in the first six months but was instead about $12 million. I could have sworn that initially tax revenues were way above expectations so I guess after the opening jolt of people buying "legal weed" for the first time or out-of-staters coming in for "pot tourism" - has the demand fallen off?
If the price for legal weed is much higher than the street price then it makes sense(imilla) to buy "black market". But isn't this counter intuitive? When prohibition ended - people didn't keep buying home brew - they started buying the "real stuff" because it was better and cheaper. Are the taxes and fees so high as to make "legal weed" too expensive? Because I'm having a hard time believing that the street weed is of better quality than the legal stuff.
Supposedly the prices are dropping due to competition among "dispensaries" but even at a price of $100 for a 1/4 ounce - I can see why many would buy from street dealers instead. So the question remains - is the government too greedy or is the demand actually less than everyone thought?
If the price for legal weed is much higher than the street price then it makes sense(imilla) to buy "black market". But isn't this counter intuitive? When prohibition ended - people didn't keep buying home brew - they started buying the "real stuff" because it was better and cheaper. Are the taxes and fees so high as to make "legal weed" too expensive? Because I'm having a hard time believing that the street weed is of better quality than the legal stuff.
Supposedly the prices are dropping due to competition among "dispensaries" but even at a price of $100 for a 1/4 ounce - I can see why many would buy from street dealers instead. So the question remains - is the government too greedy or is the demand actually less than everyone thought?
Tuesday, September 02, 2014
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
On this date in 1901, Teddy Roosevelt delivered his "speak softly but carry a big stick" speech. Today's President seems to have his own version, "speak off the cuff and carry no stick at all"... The real war that inspired Game of Thrones... A friend had a kale smoothie the other day. When he told me I thought he was making a euphemism for a green crap as in "I took a kale smoothie this morning"... Because kids don't understand history - they probably think "the erection of the Berlin Wall" is something dirty... California water hypocrites... Snake Plissken? I thought that guy was dead!... If an apple was magnified to the size of the earth - then the atoms of the apple would be equal to the original size of the apple...
On this date in 1901, Teddy Roosevelt delivered his "speak softly but carry a big stick" speech. Today's President seems to have his own version, "speak off the cuff and carry no stick at all"... The real war that inspired Game of Thrones... A friend had a kale smoothie the other day. When he told me I thought he was making a euphemism for a green crap as in "I took a kale smoothie this morning"... Because kids don't understand history - they probably think "the erection of the Berlin Wall" is something dirty... California water hypocrites... Snake Plissken? I thought that guy was dead!... If an apple was magnified to the size of the earth - then the atoms of the apple would be equal to the original size of the apple...
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- RIP Wing Commander Ken Rees - the last of the Great Escape and guy Steve McQueen's character was based on
- Amusing juggling / magic act
- What does it look like if you strapped a camera to the back of an eagle? It looks like this.
- Game of Thrones sigils for every NFL team
- Guards complaints against Spartacus
- Pollution.
- RIP Wing Commander Ken Rees - the last of the Great Escape and guy Steve McQueen's character was based on
- Amusing juggling / magic act
- What does it look like if you strapped a camera to the back of an eagle? It looks like this.
- Game of Thrones sigils for every NFL team
- Guards complaints against Spartacus
- Pollution.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
As if he wasn't going to be compared to Aaron Hernandez enough - new Patriots tight end Tim Wright will be wearing Hernandez's old number 81... Buying carbon off-sets to me always seemed like the modern equivalent of rich Northerners paying for replacements to fight for them in the Civil War. And just as hypocritical... Carnal Acquaintance would be a good name for a band or a fantasy football team... Actual movie - MANBORG: a warrior who's half-man, half-machine, but all hero. Look awful... If Cubs fans were told before the season that Theo Epstein would have the team either ahead or tied by record with the Boston Red Sox - those Cubbie fans would have been pretty pleased.
As if he wasn't going to be compared to Aaron Hernandez enough - new Patriots tight end Tim Wright will be wearing Hernandez's old number 81... Buying carbon off-sets to me always seemed like the modern equivalent of rich Northerners paying for replacements to fight for them in the Civil War. And just as hypocritical... Carnal Acquaintance would be a good name for a band or a fantasy football team... Actual movie - MANBORG: a warrior who's half-man, half-machine, but all hero. Look awful... If Cubs fans were told before the season that Theo Epstein would have the team either ahead or tied by record with the Boston Red Sox - those Cubbie fans would have been pretty pleased.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
State of the Red Sox
The state of the Red Sox can be summed up in six words, "Too many outfielders, not enough starters."
Here's the outfielders Boston has under contract for next season; Yoenis Cespedes, Shane Victorino, Rusney Castillo, Allen Craig, Daniel Nava, Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, and Brock Holt. You only play 3 outfielders at a time - so having 8 seems a bit much. Even if you say Brock Holt and Mookie Betts are really infielders - that still leaves 6 outfielders for 3 starting jobs. Something has to give.
Meanwhile - here are the starters that are under control for next year; Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly, Brandon Workman, Rubby Del La Rosa, Anthony Ranaundo and Allen Webster. Does any of those names jump out at you as a number 1 or 2 starter? Me neither.
So what to do? The obvious first answer is to sign Jon Lester to a long term deal. At this point 6-years for $150 million is what it will probably take. Then you hope Lester is more like Andy Pettitte when it comes to durability and less like Jack McDowell.
Even if you sign Lester - a rotation of Lester, Buchholz, Kelly, Del La Rosa and pick a name doesn't sound like a playoff contender. Signing free agent James Shields would obviously help but what are the odds of one team signing 2 of the top 3 free agent pitchers? That's why a starter is probably the number one trade priority for the team this off-season. The most obvious name would be Cole Hamels who is owed $94 million over the next 4 seasons.
The good news is that the class of free agent outfielders this year is pretty weak - and guess who has outfielders to spare? Pretty sad but I'm looking forward more to the hot stove than to the rest of the season. I think many fans feel the same.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Heh heh - the metric system vs the imperial
- Never really thought about this - why do we have middle names?
- Oh man this is mean - Wes Welker Confident He Will Be Ready for Patriots Season Opener
- Cannibalism
- Great version - Elvis covering Bridge Over Troubled Water
- Heh heh - the metric system vs the imperial
- Never really thought about this - why do we have middle names?
- Oh man this is mean - Wes Welker Confident He Will Be Ready for Patriots Season Opener
- Cannibalism
- Great version - Elvis covering Bridge Over Troubled Water
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Tim Horton's and Burger King
Tim Horton's and Burger King are merging. The new company HQ will be based out of Canada. I have an idea on how this news could be played to increase Burger King's market share in the US.
The minimum wage in Canada is Province by Province. The lowest is Alberta at $9.95 Canadian and the highest is Ontario at $11 per hour Canadian. That $9.95 Canadian works out to about $9.07 in US dollars. Only the State of Washington has a higher minimum wage ($9.32) in the US.
The new combined Tim Horton's and Burger King (Burger Horton's?) announces that they will now be paying at the very least the Canadian minimum wage of $9.07 to all employees in the US. They are probably already paying that to most employees so it wouldn't cost the company very much but it would differentiate itself from McDonald's. When the Occupy Wall Street / Never Shop at Walmart crowd decide where to eat lunch - now the choice would be clear - Burger Horton's! Most of those folks live off the dollar menu anyway.
The minimum wage in Canada is Province by Province. The lowest is Alberta at $9.95 Canadian and the highest is Ontario at $11 per hour Canadian. That $9.95 Canadian works out to about $9.07 in US dollars. Only the State of Washington has a higher minimum wage ($9.32) in the US.
The new combined Tim Horton's and Burger King (Burger Horton's?) announces that they will now be paying at the very least the Canadian minimum wage of $9.07 to all employees in the US. They are probably already paying that to most employees so it wouldn't cost the company very much but it would differentiate itself from McDonald's. When the Occupy Wall Street / Never Shop at Walmart crowd decide where to eat lunch - now the choice would be clear - Burger Horton's! Most of those folks live off the dollar menu anyway.
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