Sofa King Chicago

Friday High Fives: 04/06/2007

2007-04-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm back bitches and I've got some changes in the works. It has been too long.

This week's five items, ideas, and individuals that I am thankful for, appreciate, or admire.

The Masters
Man, I am telling you the webcast from masters.org is getting better and better every year. The scoreboard interface, the streaming video, the great UI, the expanded coverage. It is pure awesome. But I think the best aspect of the web coverage is the commentary Bobby Clampett and Billy Kratzert who are on the Amen Corner feed. seriously talking about golf, telling stories, debating who was the best line putter and best sight putter, bringing in other guys like Ferherty and having casual conversations. The depth is amazing and I really wish they and really all sports (looking squarely at you NFL) had a special feed or channel for pro-sumers who want this type of coverage commentary rather than the standard fare Jimmy Nantz/Joe Buck vanilla stuff. I can't say enough good stuff about this.

Home Opener
All though the Cubs are off to a questionable start with a 1-2 record I am really looking forward to going to the home opener on Monday.

Seven Samurai - Criterion Collection Edition
Super duper edition of Kurosawa's seminal film that "seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope."

Graphic Novels
I am not usually a comic book guy but I do enjoy a good graphic novel every once and a while. I just got done reading volumes 1 and 2 of DMZ and I recommend them. It isn't a masterpiece but the artwork is great and the story is compelling. I do think that the story is somewhat contrived at times and lays the symbolism on a little thick in some areas but overall a good read. I've just started Watchmen by Alan Moore who did V for Vendetta.

MLB Gameday
I thought ESPN's real time scoreboard was the best in breed for interactive scores and stats but I recently have been turned onto MLB.com's Gameday. It is really slick and has a lot of neat stuff like showing you the pitch locations for every at-bat each hitter has had in the game to see how they are attacking them and giving some really sweet stats (speed, break, and pFX) on each pitch thrown.

Quickies: The "I am sooo not ready for football saturdays" Edition

2006-09-05T14:12:00.000-05:00

Nice win for the Hawkeyes this past weekend. They've bumped up a slot or two in the polls and should steamroll the Orangemen this weekend. But they haven't exactly been TCOB in September road games the past couple years.

Chuckles has an article on James Bond in Esquire this month.

Wolf Parade show from a 8/29 [torrent]

Impossible Germany which is expected to be on Wilco's next album is my new favorite song.

Tiger Woods 07 has different features and courses for the XBox 360 and PS2 and obviously the better features and more desirable courses are for the next gen console. So basically that is it, I give in. I am getting an Xbox 360.

Things I'd Like Hansel to Weigh In On

2006-09-01T14:12:00.000-05:00

Deadspin has been all over the Matt Leinart's baby's moma and today sheds some light on a potential reason why Leinart was banging a basketball player instead of a cheerleader or washed up reality star while at USC.

I'll enlighten: Women's college basketball players are historically the trampiest athletes out there. Most of these gals were considered too freakish (and intimdating) in high school to garner any normal attention. But once they attend college, they make up for all of those humiliating days in junior wearing their older brother's track shoes by engaging in as much humping as possible once they hit campus. Think about it. Think about your school. Think about the hottest female basketball player on your team (who probably wasn't that hot, comparatively) and think about how she always seemed to be involved in the most tawdry sexual rumors circulating throughout campus. Even at La Salle University, I remember our best female college player, who was quite homely looking, had the nickname "Choo-Choo" due to how many times she rode Lionel "L-Train" Simmons in the locker room (in front of other players, apparently) during her freshman year.

I'd definitely like to hear Hansel's opinion on this issue.

Cubs: Two Unsurprising Things

2006-09-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

1) According to SI columnist Jon Heyman Aramis is looking to leave the Cubs after this year.

Aramis Ramirez is telling friends that he plans to exercise an option to opt out of his contract with the Cubs, which would allow him to join Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee as the top positional free agents this winter. Ramirez, who has 31 home runs, 89 RBIs and a .287 batting average, is also telling people he'd love to go to New York, although for now the Yankees are saying there is no consideration being given to trading Alex Rodriguez, who's in a much-analyzed, inexplicable funk.

Wherever Ramirez goes, he should be able to top the $11 million annually he is slated to make. He's having a big finish, and it would make little sense not to capitalize on that even if it means he stays with the Cubs at an increased salary. The Astros, Rangers, Angels, Dodgers, Red Sox and Tigers could be among favored players for Ramirez. But, of course, the Cubs won't let him leave easily.

2) According to Paul Sullivan the Cubs believe Aramis is going to stay and not opt out of his contract.

So let's add this to the list of things the Cubs believe is going to happen but no one else that has an even casual interest in the Cubs believe is going to happen.

The only question is do I slot that in list? Above "Wade Miller, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior are going to be ready to go early enough in the season that we don't need to add more arms in the off season" or below "overpaying Neifi Perez and Glendon Rusch with multiyear, multimillion dollar contracts because they are key components to the team's playoff chances"?

Always a good idea to bump attendance

2006-08-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

The Chinese seem to have figured out a sure fire way to increase attendance at funerals. As always the government, in this specific case the very definition of the "fun police", has deemed this inappropriate.

Bears: Start Practicing

2006-08-24T16:03:00.000-05:00

Bear down, Chicago Bears, make every play clear the way to victory;
Bear down, Chicago Bears, put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you're wearing the crown.
You're the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, bear down.

Coffee: Magical Liquid?

2006-08-16T11:06:00.000-05:00

There are two things about coffee that amazes me. One I can explain and the other that to this day baffles me.

1) Coffee that is secreted through the bottom of a styrofoam cup after sitting on a surface for a while. This one I am pretty sure about.

2) How in the F can coffee jump out of the damn slit in the lid and make "magic bullet" like movements to spill on me in weird places right in front of me as I watch?

Big things going down in the Sofa Kingdom. More soon.

The Champ

2006-07-23T12:22:00.000-05:00

Your claret jug sized cup of coffee is ready.

Where does "Awesome" fit into the food pyramid?

2006-06-29T10:10:00.000-05:00

Because I know that's where we'd find this and this.

F YOU PGA TOUR

2006-06-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

The PGA Tour is ditching the oldest tour stop on the schedule
and rotating the Chicago stop through the midwest to chump ass forth tier cities like St. Louis and Indianapolis.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Sigh S-K Breaks Up

2006-06-27T14:40:00.000-05:00

S-K is set to go on indefinite-hiatus after they finish their summer tour. Guess I have to rethink my stance on Lollapalooza.

Cubs: Please, Please, Please

2006-06-21T09:16:00.000-05:00

I heard this morning on the radio that there is a rumor floating about that The Evil Empire is looking to acquire Jacque Jones and his hefty contract.

I've been hard on Jones and think signing him to the deal he got from the Cubs was dumb from day one. In fairness he has been very productive over the last month on a club that could break all-time offensive futility records. This move, in the short term, could certainly move the team further in that direction but not doign a deal like this could certainly hurt much more in the long term.

The scenario couldn't be better for the Cubs. Dump a crippling contract to one of the few teams in baseball that doesn't care about money or terrible contracts and start the youth movement the organization so desperately needs. The Yankees are possibly the only team that could afford to do a deal like this and lucky for us they are in dyer need for outfield. The downside is that the Yankees farm system isn't exactly teeming with prospects and I am not sure that what the Cubs would receive in return would fit into the big picture but I think dumping the contract and getting something, however meager it may be, is a big plus.

I hope this deal happens and it marks the first step towards building a team that can compete year after year. It is time to rebuild.

Cubs: Rant/Rave

2006-06-12T16:10:00.000-05:00

Rave: ESPN has nice filters for 2006 stats.

Rant: The Cubs team batting relative to the rest of the league especially in the leadoff and second spot in the lineup.

Quickies - The "Schools out for the Summer" Edition

2006-06-08T10:31:00.000-05:00

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I am done with finals for my class and the last of my "Multiple Deadlines for Work That Conviently Always Coincide with Midterms and Finals" has past so I have my life back for the time being.

Burn in Hell. Regardless of where you stand on the war in Iraq I hope everyone can agree that the world is a better place without Zarqawi.

I have to hand it to them. They really know how to market themselves well. Thankfully they also know when they are incredibly overexposed.

An evolutionary psychology take on a pressing topic. Why Bond Villians Employ Dwarves.

Uber-Chef Thomas Keller is doing burgers now. I have to get a Kobe beef stuffed with Foie-gras burger here before Chicago goes Foieless.

I've been listening to a lot of Hot Chip. They've classified themselves in the "Reggaeton / Bluegrass / Turntablism" genre which makes me chuckle but I peg them somewhere on the musical spectrum between Daft Punk and Postal Service and is perfect for working, studying or chilling out. The new album The Warning drops next week and is recommended. You can listen to some tracks off the album at the band's myspace page. They'll be at Lollapalooza in August and supposedly put on a great show so those of you going should check them out.

Kerry Wood has been dead to me for a while. It is long past time that the Cubs realize they should feel the same way. 2006 is effectively over, Wood's option for 2007 isn't going to get picked up, and having to continually push your starts back a couple days after you can only go 3 innings isn't going to stir up a lot of interest in the trade market. For once could the Cubs be rational about building a winner and do what is right for the future? What good does it do rushing Wood and Prior back this season? Is there a big difference between finishing 33 or 21 games back?

Finally. Looking forward to checking out Em-dina's home town and playing a little golf with her dad at their country club this weekend. I am chomping at the bit to get back on the course after the last couple weeks.

Sickening

2006-06-05T21:30:00.000-05:00

So I can't decide on what pisses me off more. The fact that our president is pandering to his base by coming out in support of a constitutional ban on gay marriage or that it is advantageous for him to do so because intolerance, hate and fear mongering will be enough to "energize the base" and get conservatives to vote.

Recommended: The Avalanche

2006-06-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

How great is an album when the outtakes are this strong? The official drop date is July 11th. Do yourself a favor.

Cubs: Addressing our needs

2006-05-26T10:35:00.000-05:00

The Cubs, as expected, called up Tony Womack today and sent down youngster Ryan Theriot.

I can't effing believe this team. I don't know what pisses me off more: The fact that we had a terrible off season and completely ignored our deficiencies in starting pitching or, now that they are effectively out of it, they won't play their youngsters and continue to not only make excuses but sign ineffective, washed up second basemen.

The Cubs, when they aren't explaining how they can't replace DLee and how they aren't out of it yet because of what Houston did last year, want us to believe that JHJ, Neifi MF'ing Perez, Bynum, and now Womack give the Cubs a better chance to win than Theriot. Excuse me for not buying it.

Cubs: Frustration

2006-05-26T09:57:00.000-05:00

(via MJH)

Fitting on the day that Barrett's 10-game suspension gets handed down.

Just Wondering: What in the hell is Jim Hendry thinking.

2006-05-19T11:20:00.000-05:00

Is Jim Hendry channeling Isiah Thomas?

The Cubs just signed ANOTHER weak hitting, washed up, second baseman. It is to a minor league contract but you can bet your ass that he'll be called up if Aramis goes on the DL. He is definitely a "Dusty Guy" which roughly translates to "no-talent, ass clown" for those of you not familar with Cubspeak.

Quickies - The "Twice is Nice" Edition

2006-05-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

The ACL 2006 line up has been announced. It is sweet and I'd love to go except it is an outdoor festival and in Austin. Hrmm.

New Clerks 2 trailer is online. Kevin Smith has jumped the shark but I'll probably see this on August 18th anyway. I attribute that to being a Cubs fan. I continue to show up expecting things to change only to find out they haven't. Sue me.

The Chris Ware exhibit at the MCA is good. Highly recommended.

Quickies - The "Have Mercy on Me" Edition

2006-05-17T09:40:00.000-05:00

Sweet website that has the entire Cubs organization laid out.

The NY Times has a piece on an interesting lawsuit to decide whether baseball stats are in the public domain.

Green City Market opened for the 2006 season this morning. Emdina and I got up bright and early and checked it out at 7 this morning. It is very early in the season so there isn't a lot of produce or fruit yet but there is an abundance of root veggies, cheeses, fresh breads, and meat product. We picked up a nice loaf of sun-dried tomato, asiago, and rosemary We also saw Paul Kahan, head chef at Blackbird and former James Beard winner for Best Chef Midwest, out strolling the booths. He, and a few other chefs, are huge supporters of the market and I look forward to his demo that he will perform later this summer.

The Black Keys new EP is awesome (Check out my favorite track "Have Mercy on Me"). Man do they rip sweet blues. The new Pearl Jam is meh.

mp3 via macktronic

Just Wondering: How many cc's does it take?

2006-05-15T13:53:00.000-05:00

How many CC's of horse tranquillizer would it take to sedate Joey Porter and do you think the Secret Service is tossing around the idea?

Cubs: Moment of Zen

2006-05-10T13:23:00.000-05:00

We have 5 second basemen on the roster.

3 of them absolutely suck and I'll be more than happy to personally buy each one of them a plane ticket out of town, 1 is an unproven rookie, and 1 is playing firstbase.

Big Ups

2006-05-09T14:58:00.000-05:00

Due to familial obligations the weekend before and a Cubs nightgame (and last win grrrrrr) falling on my actual birthday May 1 and requiring my attendance, this past weekend turned out to be the official celebration of my 28th birthday and it was, to quote Peter Griffin, "Freakin' Sweet!".

Friday night Em-dina took me to Topolobampo for my belated Birthday dinner and we ended up having dinner with James Bond* who was in town filming Butterfly on a Wheel. I had the tasting menu which had each course paired with a different type of wine and it was incredibly good.

Saturday Em-dina threw Krafty (who shares a May 1 birthday) and I a birthday party. It was a rousing success that saw an absurd amount of alcohol consumed. Good times were had by all.

Big ups go out to Em-dina for an absolutely fabulous weekend and great birthday gifts, Tim for bringing over the grill, hooking up a brother with some golf shwag and a sweet bottle of Austrian bubbly, Brix for the crazy gifts, Speedy for the late night cup run, my sister's boyfriend Jay who not only grilled for everyone but ran down to the corner to resupply the party with Vodka and Jager after the three 1.75L bottles of Vodka and 2 1.75L of Jager were out and everyone who participated and helped make it a great time.

It truly was an impressive performance. Thanks!

*- and by 'having dinner with' I meant 'ate a couple tables away from' and by 'James Bond' I meant Pierce Brosnan.

Treasury Notes

2006-05-09T12:57:00.000-05:00

While in Amsterdam a comment was made about the size of the big Euro bills and how all the bodegas and touristy shops have signs in their windows saying they do not accept $200 or $500 Euro notes. The big Euro denominations lead to Tim and I getting into a disagreement over whether or not denominations larger than $100 were still being printed and used in the US.

We both acknowledged that denominations greater than $100 were printed and used as Federal Reserve notes at some time in the past but we disagreed on whether or not they were still being used. My position was that they stopped printing the bigger denominations a long time ago and these bills are not in circulation or used in any capacity anymore. Tim thought that they were still being used to transfer money for bank-to-bank and for federal reserve transfers.

I completely forgot about this whole thing until I came across a post today on boingboing about a gallery of the high denomination bills by the Treasury Department and it reminded me of our Amsterdam conversation.

Along with pics of the notes they have a couple paragraphs on the history of the big bills.

Currency notes of denominations above $100 are not available from the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve System, or the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. On July 14, 1969, the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System announced that currency notes in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 would be discontinued immediately due to lack of use. Although they were issued until 1969, they were last printed in 1945.

These notes are legal tender and may be found in circulation today; however, most notes still in circulation are probably in the hands of private numismatic dealers and collectors.

Too bad I can't remember if we put any small bills on the matter!