A Large Regular

2009-11-06T16:12:00.002-05:00

Velvet Painting of Sci-Fi Icons

Velvet Painting of Sci-Fi Icons

2009-11-05T08:06:00.005-05:00

The Yankees are World Series Champions

Congratulations to the New York Yankees - the 2009 World Series Champions. They won and they deserved it. They were the best team this year.

Here are my thoughts on them winning and what the future holds in store for not just the Yankees but other teams as well.

- Two of the biggest stars of the victory were Hideki Matsui (Series MVP) and Johnny Damon. Both are free agents and I'm guessing that prior to the World Series the front office was probably counting on cutting one or both of the players loose. Now what do they do? Matsui will be 36-years old next season and is now pretty much a DH. He could probably be a 1st baseman but not for the Yankees who have Mark Teixeira there for the foreseeable future. Do the Yankees keep Matsui as their DH? Matsui did hit 28 HR this season. But what about Jorge Posada who will eat up a bunch of the DH AB's next season and is signed for big money through 2011? It will be interesting to see what happens with Matsui this offseason. Will the Yankees re-sign him? Will he sign with another team? Will he retire to Japan as a conquering hero and legend who went out on the top of his game? It will be interesting?

- Wither Johnny Damon? Today is his 36th birthday (happy birthday Johnny Damon). Damon has proven that he can not only survive the heat of playing for the Yankees but thrive in that environment. The new Yankee Stadium seems custom built for Damon. The Yankees could very easily bring Damon back AND sign either a Jason Bay or Matt Holliday to play right with Nick Swisher being an expensive $9 million backup.

- What about the Phillies? The worm has certainly turned for Cole Hammels. He's gone from hero of the city to almost unwelcome. Could he be packaged as part of a three team trade in exchange for a young starter who doesn't have foot-in-mouth disease?

2009-11-04T15:51:00.003-05:00

Arnold Rothstein

I was reminded that on this day in 1928, Arnold Rothstein was shot. The gunshot was fatal.

Most people only know Rothstein as the man accused as being the brains behind the 1919 Black Sox scandal. That part of his life is in question. What is not in question is that he was to organized crime what JP Morgan was to our banking system. His was a fascinating life. That life was documented in the book The Big Bankroll: The Life And Times Of Arnold Rothsteinby Leo Katcher. If you like history and gambling then this is a book for you. I picked it up today for a second read.

2009-11-04T10:26:00.002-05:00

Man Caves

The 15 Best Man Caves on the Internet.

I am so jealous of the garage man caves. I'd love a poker-room / sports bar man cave.

2009-11-04T09:00:00.007-05:00

Morning Links

Some interesting links to go with your morning coffee break.

- Investing in Superstars - very interesting concept about investing in people and getting a return off their lifetime earnings. Personal Investment Contracts could be the new new thing.

- Sports betting destroys poker bankrolls. I've been guilty of this.

- Tampa Bay sends Iwamura to the Pirates for Chavez. Salary dump by the Rays but still a good pickup for Pittsburgh. No truth to the rumor that Iwamura means "Freddy Sanchez" in Japanese.

- Alan Sepinwall on 30 for 30's Without Bias.

2009-11-04T08:16:00.002-05:00

Hawaii Chair - Really?

This is a real product. I think if I saw someone using one that I would just crack up. Can you imagine getting interviewed by someone sitting in one of these chairs?

2009-11-03T20:11:00.001-05:00

Interesting Bar Story

I really enjoyed Gene Bromberg's One-Outer story.

And I think like everyone who reads the story - I'll be tempted to play some Russian roulette the next time I'm with a bunch of friends at a bar.

2009-11-03T18:03:00.005-05:00

Collapse of Nasca Civilization Human Induced or Oncler Induced?

Very interesting post over at Sexy Archaeology.

As the paper explains, however, the huarango was more than just a tree – it was a crucial part of the desert’s fragile ecosystem, which enhanced soil fertility and moisture and helped to hold the Nasca’s narrow, vulnerable irrigation channels in place.

Eventually, they cut down so many trees that they reached a tipping point at which the arid ecosystem was irreversibly damaged. The authors do not dispute that a major, El Niño-style event then occurred – finding hard evidence for this for the first time. But they also find that the impact of this flood would have been far less devastating had the forests which protected the delicate desert ecology still been there.

If only the Nasca had a Lorax around to speak for the trees.

2009-11-03T08:42:00.004-05:00

Martha's Vineyard and the Garden of Eden

Yesterday the Boston Globe had an article about the death of 500 acres of oak forest on Martha's Vineyard and how it is related to climate change. I couldn't stop thinking about the article all day.

To me the key quote from the story was the following:

“It’s what makes the story interesting,’’ Oswald said. “The same two types of trees are dying at the same time’’ today, just as they did 5,000 years ago.

That's right - 5,000 years ago almost the exact same thing happened in almost the exact same place. I immediately thought that this fact makes blaming man-made carbon emissions for what is happening a bit of a stretch. I mean it's not like what happened 5,000 years ago was because of slash and burn farming practices or driving SUV's. It occurred to me that the author of the article was careful to use the term "climate change" instead of "global warming" all through the article.

I also started thinking about what was happening 5,000 years ago and then it clicked. About 5,000 years ago civilization was taking root in the fertile crescent around the meeting of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This is the area that many have identified as the most likely setting for the Biblical Garden of Eden. Today this area is part of modern day Iraq.

That area today is home to the so-called Marsh Arabs. This is worthy of note because Saddam Hussein tried to punish the Marsh Arabs in 1991 by draining the marshland and destroying both the ecology of the area and the way of life of the Shia Marsh Arabs. We are talking about one of the most ecologically diverse areas on the planet which encompasses roughly 8,000 square miles. That area is just about exactly equal to the size of the entire state of Massachusetts. We are talking about the setting of the Biblical Garden of Eden.

You don't hear much about the restoration of the ecology of this area - do you? You would think that restoring the area that is the metaphorical Garden of Eden in an area roughly equal to the entire state of Massachusetts would rate as high as the problems of 500 acres of forest in Massachusetts. You would be wrong. The reason, I'm convinced, is that George W. Bush was the main cause for this ecological recovery in Iraq and no main stream media wants to give Bush credit for anything. I'm amused by that.

I'm also amused by the fact that 3,000 years ago in this same fertile crescent - man started fermenting beer. Glorious beer! Yet in this modern day there are towns on Martha's Vineyard that are dry. They don't allow alcohol. You can't blame George Bush for that. You can only hope that these towns will eventually become civilized.

2009-11-01T10:50:00.002-05:00

Odds to Win 2009 WSOP Main Event

Here are the odds on the November 9. I threw $100 on Phil Ivey because he's Phil Ivey.

Darvin Moon +300
Eric Buchman +400
S Begleiter +500
J Shulman +500
Phil Ivey +450
Joe Cada +1200
Kevin Schaffel +1400
James Akenhead +1500
Anoine Saout +1500

2009-11-01T08:20:00.008-05:00

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

On this day in 1765 - the British Crown enacted the Stamp Act. This was taxes placed on the colonies to help pay for British military expenses in North America. These taxes, it can be argued, were the main cause for the eventual American Revolution. What I find ironic is when viewed from the prism of what taxes our government burdens us with on a regular basis - the taxes from the Stamp Act were actually reasonable... The Cincinnati Bearcats are the only team in Division 1 football not to lose a fumble so far this season... Today would have been Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler's 69th birthday. From the outside it looks like Sadler led a pretty fascinating life... Today also is former CNN anchor Lynne Russell's 63rd birthday. Russell is a sentimental favorite among many gamblers because she was the anchor of CNN Headline News at night and CNN Headline News was the first to run a sports ticker with the score of all the games at the bottom of the screen. Thus many gamblers were tuned into Headline News and looming right above the ticker was Lynne Russell's ample breasts. I have fond memories of Lynne Russell and her breasts... Today is World Vegan Day - so I'm going out to have a bacon cheeseburger. I suggest you do the same...

2009-11-01T07:43:00.002-05:00

Seinfeld as Just a Remake of Welcome Back Kotter

The TV show Seinfeld was supposedly a groundbreaking concept of a TV show but it occurred to me yesterday that there was nothing new about Seinfeld at all. It is in fact a rip off of the the 1970's show Welcome Back Kotter.

Let's start with the obvious. Both shows were sitcoms set in New York City where the title character is Jewish. Also both shows opened with the star telling a joke. The main difference here was that the opening joke in Welcome Back Kotter was occasionally funny. The openings of Seinfeld with Jerry doing standup was never ever funny. Another parallel between the two shows is the fact that as the show became popular - the opening joke was dropped on both shows. You can't tell me that Jerry Seinfeld wasn't aware of one of the most popular TV shows of his youth that was based in New York and starred a Jewish standup comedian. Yeah - can you say plagiarism?

In the comparisons - Seinfeld is obviously the Gabe Kaplan character. George Kostanza is the Vice Principal Woodman character - both bitter men who knew the star from childhood. Mr. Woodman was old and short while George is short and bald. Elaine is the Vinnie Barbarino slutty character. Newman is Arnold Horshack but instead of skinny and ethnic you get fat and postal. You can equally picture either character exclaiming, "Ooh-ooh-ooooh!" Kramer was the Juan Epstein character - they even had similar hair. Epstein's mother's maiden name was Bibbermann. According to the state of New York - Kramer was the Bibbermann. There was no Boom-Boom Washington character in Seinfeld because Welcome Back Kotter was the more progressive of the shows - not that there's anything wrong with that.

As an aside - a movie version of Welcome Back Kotter is planned with Ice Cube playing the title role but with the school set in South Central LA instead of New York.

2009-10-31T09:44:00.003-04:00

College Football Picks

Here's my picks for today. Good luck to one and all.

Cincinnati -14.5 over Syracuse
Georgia Tech -11.5 over Vanderbilt
UTEP -7 over Alabama Birmingham
Michigan -6.5 over Illinois
Connecticut -7 over Rutgers
Indiana +17.5 over Iowa
Iowa State +6 over Texas A&M
Ole Miss -5 over Auburn
Houston -6.5 over Southern Mississippi

2009-10-30T09:25:00.007-04:00

Friday Morning Links

Some interesting reading on a Friday morning.

- Michaela Murphy and THE Kennedy's (PDF) - very amusing story

- The Philosophy of Knish - giving Joey Knish from Rounders his just due

- How the NFL mismatches have been killing the sportsbooks - though I fully expect people to turn around and give that money right back to Vegas or Joey Bag-o-donuts.

- Interesting look at the strange happenings in the Northwest where seven human feet in sneakers have been found washed up on shore in the past 2 years

2009-10-30T08:29:00.000-04:00

Heh Heh

2009-10-26T19:29:00.002-04:00

Godfather Though for the Day

Michael Corleone is often thought of as a poor husband and father. He tried to be like his father Don Vito but it just didn't work out. Sure he loved his kids but it just wasn't enough. In the end his family is a mess.

How come Kaye never gets any of the blame for this? Seriously.

Keep in mind that Kaye was Michael's second choice (in fact second wife). If Appolonia had lived - do you think Michael would have had so many family problems? Do you think Appolonia would have ever had an abortion? Divorced Michael? I don't think so.

Maybe the real lesson to be learned from the Godfather trilogy is to not marry a WASP.

2009-10-26T11:10:00.003-04:00

Texas Tech

I had the same question. Mike Huguenin from Rivals.com points out something that had me mystified Saturday:

OK, someone explain this. Texas Tech blasts Kansas State 66-14 on Oct. 10. On Oct. 17, K-State blasts Texas A&M 62-14. Saturday, A&M blasted Texas Tech 52-30.

Texas Tech was a 21 point favorite on Saturday.

2009-10-26T08:53:00.002-04:00

Mad Men

Last night's episode of Mad Men was just awesome is in the dictionary sense of the word. As always Alan Sepinwall is the place to go for Mad Men discussion.

Two thoughts about last night's episode:

1. So much happened last night and so many loose ends were tied up that is seems impossible that the show was just 1 hour long. This season of Mad Men seemed to be moving so slow and then BAM! Even with so much revealed last night you know that many more twists and turns are about to pop with the JFK assassination just around the corner (time-line wise).

2. Many people make Sopranos comparisons but last night's episode made me think the show was more in tune with The Wire. On that show all the lose ends for the season would be cleared up in the penultimate episode with the last episode acting as almost an afterword. Also in season 3 of The Wire you had Stringer Bell getting killed which made many wonder where the series would go from there. The main plot of the series was McNulty and the rest trying to get Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell but with Stringer Bell dead - where would the series go? Likewise in Mad Men the main plot line was the Dick Whitman / Don Draper secret. Now with the secret out (to his wife at least) - where does the series go? Many people thought season 4 of The Wire was the best of the bunch. I get the feeling things will get even better on Mad Men too.

2009-10-26T07:57:00.003-04:00

Steve Phillips

Steve Phillips has been fired by ESPN. My first thought on hearing this was "He'll never work again."

Phillips was not a very good GM in baseball and he was worse as an analyst. Now with the image of Phillips as the guy who was banging a chubby intern seared into people's consciousness - Phillips won't get another job in baseball or broadcasting. Sad but true. What organization is going to hire a guy with his record of sexual opportunism / harassment?

Phillips and John Kruk were/are both mind-numbing on Baseball Tonight. I couldn't help but wonder if John Kruk was caught in a dalliance with a chubby intern if he too would get fired or if that would be looked at differently?

2009-10-26T07:16:00.003-04:00

Spiking the Ball - Delay of Game

Twice yesterday, in two separate games, I saw a penalty flag thrown on players who spiked the ball after nothing plays. The result was a delay of game penalty in each case. Good!

In both cases the player was upset with themselves so they spiked the ball and the refs penalized them. Two minor penalties would normally not be worthy of mention but this is a pet peeve of mine. It irks me to see players get to the NFL and immediately feel entitled to be jerks. I'm glad that the NFL is cracking down on spiking the ball and delaying the game. People are sick of these "look at me" demonstrations.

Now if only the NFL could do something about players celebrating like fools when they tackle a player after an 8-yard gain.

2009-10-25T17:22:00.003-04:00

King of Spades

Did you know that the King of Spades on a playing card was originally supposedly designed to represent King David from the Bible? The sword he holds was supposed to be the sword used to cut off Goliath's head after young David killed him with a rock from his his sling.

During the early parts of the Civil War - Robert E Lee was given the nickname "King of Spades" because of his propensity to dig trenches as part of his strategy. At first the nickname was derisive because soldiers hate to dig. Later when the effectiveness of his tactics saved the lives of many of these same soldiers - the nickname became affectionate. reportedly Lee always loathed the nickname.

2009-10-23T07:06:00.005-04:00

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Saturday will feature the last Notre Dame / BC matchup in football for some time. BC has done very good in the series to have a 9-9 mark against the "powerhouse" Fighting Irish. The Eagles have won the last 6 matchups. The unspoken reason why this series is coming to an end is because the Boston College fans are obnoxious when it comes to Notre Dame. There is simply no couth on the BC side of this "rivalry". You're better off wearing Red Sox gear head to foot at Yankee Stadium than simply wearing a Notre Dame cap at a BC home game against the Irish. The line in this game is ND -7.5 but I wouldn't touch this one (if I was to pick it my heart would be with BC but my head would say ND)... Girls in bikinis doing hula hoop. Yeah baby!... Georgia Tech beat highly touted Virginia Tech by 5 points last week yet the line against Virginia is just GT -5.5 points? This looks like a gimme. Am I missing something? Is this a trap?... On this date in 1850 Worcester 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 (throwing this in to balance off the girls in bikini's doing hula hoop)... Hard to believe but both the iPod and ESPN's Pardon the Interruption have been around for 8 years now... I wonder why the Wake Forrest / Navy game is off the board? Navy was an early 3-point favorite... Happy 47th birthday to Doug Flutie. I have no idea why Flutie is not still with ESPN doing college football. He is way more knowledgeable than dickhead Jesse Palmer. Can someone explain this to me? Doug Flutie is to Larry Bird what Jesse Palmer is to Michael Smith.

2009-10-21T14:35:00.005-04:00

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The biggest upset on Saturday was 14 point favorite Ohio State being pasted by Purdue. The biggest upset Sunday was 14 point favorite Philadelphia being beat by Oakland. I had Ohio State and Philly. How was your weekend?... This was awesome.... I agree with the people who compare Peyton Manning and his colts to Greg Maddux and his Atlanta Braves. Both were not the best athletes but who used their heads to become perhaps the premiere players at their positions. Yet even though their respective teams were in the playoffs every year - each player only managed one championship ring... I predict we will see a 3 interception performance out of Brett Favre within the next 3 games... I think Mike Shanahan was over-rated as a pro coach. I think the success Josh McDaniels is having may be emphasizing that point. That's why I think the perfect job for Shanahan would be to take over the University of Colorado program.

2009-10-18T12:13:00.001-04:00

Religious Affiliations of the Super Heroes

I found this very interesting.

Who knew that Batman was a lapsed Catholic who is now an Episcopalian? It was easy to guess that Catholic Girl was Catholic (how come there's no Catholic Avenger? That would be a cool name for the Pope's alter ego and while I'm rambling - who ever heard of Catholic Girl?). But did you know that Ben Grimm (the Thing from the Fantastic Four) is Jewish? Magneto (the X-Men super villain) is also Jewish.

The funniest one I thought was J. Jonah Jameson who is the employer of Peter Parker. His religious affiliation is listed as "hates Spider-man". I just found that amusing.

Here are some of the major super heroes / villains and their religious affiliations:

Superman - Methodist
Spider-Man - Protestant
Batman - Episcopalian/Catholic (lapsed)
Lex Luthor - Nietzschian atheist (I would have guessed Lutheran)
The Joker - atheist

2009-10-18T09:33:00.003-04:00

Linky Links

- The Yankees as Welfare Chislers - Interesting look at the tax breaks given the New York Yankees. Your tax money at work.

- Map of the town of Mayberry - Just what I said. Same artist has other interesting TV related drawings.

- How to calculate hand odds in Texas Hold 'em. Nothing like a little math in the morning to make your head hurt.