LP Cards Fan

I Got A Little Change In My Pocket

2012-01-17T15:22:00.004-06:00

Verbatim Mittens: "I got a little bit of income from my book, but I gave that all away. And then I get speakers’ fees from time to time, but not very much.”

Financial disclosure forms that candidates are required to file annually shows that Mr. Romney earned $374,327.62 in speakers’ fees from February of 2010 to February of 2011, at an average of $41,592 per speech.

I feel his pain. $374K just doesn't go as far as it used to. You can hardly get into a decent convertible for such a pittance.

HOF Follow Up

2012-01-17T09:24:00.002-06:00

One voter bases his choices on his dinner plans.

HOF: Why Can't I Quit You

2012-01-10T08:50:00.015-06:00

The Answer: The one player the scrooges that are the Baseball Writers Association of America quite reluctantly agree to elect into the Baseball HOF this year to sit along side the spit ballers and speed freaks there were their childhood heroes.

The Question: Who is Barry Larkin*?

The voters also bumped up Jack Morris' vote total that likely will make him next year's inductee.

I have such a love/hate relationship with the HOF. There always going to be legitimate bones of contention over certain players. One has to draw a line somewhere to distinguish HOF caliber players from the merely great players.

The problem for me is two fold. It starts with what seems like clear reluctance on the BBWAA voters behalf to enshrine new players. This is made painfully clear when you see how players spend years on the ballot and then slowly climb in votes until finally elected. It is even worse when you see some players clearly snubbed on their first year and then elected in the second year. I can only really attribute this to the voters nostalgia for older players. If you want further evidence look into how the "Veterans Committee" was transformed and renamed the "Golden Era Committee."

My second problem I've hashed out previously. I don't accept the idea that steroid use is an automatic disqualifier. Additionally, I've always suspected that it was being used as an excuse to exclude certain players not liked by the writers. Over the weekend one writer being interviewed on MLB Network confirmed this suspicion. He said he wouldn't vote for Mark McGwire or Rafael Palmeiro because he thought steroids were cheating. He went on to say that he thought he would eventually vote for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens - despite proven steroid use - because he "believed" they would be of HOF caliber without the steroid use. I can only call bullshit.

Yet, the HOF is the last great honor a player can earn and is heavily reported if not highly respected. I love the sport and obviously I want this final honor to be meted out in a way I see as fair. Certain players are going to be on the cusp and I would have disagreements one way or the other. What I see though is a small group of privileged voters exercising their biases.

*Personal note. Barry Larkin is extremely deserving of HOF induction. He is one of the best short stops to ever play the game. He set the standard for guys like Ripkin Jr., A-Rod, Jeter, and Garciapara.

Economic Signs: Something Has To Give

2012-01-09T09:37:00.000-06:00

From today's Tribune web page. Two of these headlines are telling competing stories. Malls are seeing increased store occupancy. On the other hand, retailers are facing terrible sales figures.

Things They Are A Chaning

2012-01-08T18:42:00.000-06:00

This is what she looked like new.

She's got a little beat up over the years.

Well, I dropped her off at a friend's place today. She's getting upgraded, rebuilt, and made all purdy again.

Golden Debuggery

2012-01-05T13:08:00.000-06:00

Ezra has an interesting post about why people buy gold. This fact stands out:

According to the World Gold Council, only 166,600 tons of gold have been mined since the beginning of civilization – all of which would fit into a crate of 20 meters cubed.

So I did some quick math:
(166,600 tons of gold)* (2,000 pounds / ton) = 333,200,000 pounds of gold
(333,200,000 pounds of gold) * (16 ounces / pound) = 5,331,200,000 ounces of gold
(5,331,200,000 ounces of gold) * ($1662.31 / ounce) = $8,862,107,072,000.00

The US GNP = 14,561,700,000,000.00.

I know this isn't an original observation but it is worth repeating. There is not enough gold in the world to cover the U.S. GNP for a year. How exactly are we supposed to convert to the "gold standard"?

Happy New Year! (A Day Late)

2012-01-02T10:25:00.000-06:00

Remember, the Mayans ran out of paper to make a 2013 calendar so the world must end in 2012. Therefore...

party like a rock star...

and drive it like you stole it.

Just don't do both at at the same time.

Let's Make Dinner

2012-01-01T12:11:00.002-06:00

For New Years Eve I made chicken parmigiana. I made the dish using a combination of recipes from my Fannie Farmer cookbook I received for Christmas and a eggplant parmigiana dish I made about a year ago.

First I needed tomato sauce. I made this by sauteing half a yellow onion for a couple minutes then adding three diced vine tomatoes. To this I added oregano, thyme, black pepper, and garlic. This simmered for a good 20 minutes.

While the tomato sauce was simmering I took two chicken breasted and pounded the hell out of them. I needed to get them flatter and to a consistent thickness so they would fry and cook evenly. Also its time to get the oven preheated top 350.

Once the chicken flat, one at a time, I drug them through a beaten egg and coated them with a mixture of store bought Italian bread crumbs and shredded Parmesan cheese. I then put them in a pan with preheated olive oil to fry. They should be browned and mostly cooked through.

Next comes the layering. In a 8x8 baking dish I spooned in some of the tomato sauce. Just enough to have a layer under the chicken. Place the fried chicken breasts on this layer of tomato sauce.

Now, here's where some improvisation comes into play. Fresh basil! I placed fresh basil leaves over the chicken.

On top of that I sprinkled more Parmesan cheese.

Over the Parmesan I placed two slices of provolone cheese. This will keep the basil and Parmesan in place.

Over the provolone I ladle in the rest of the tomato sauce.

Over the sauce I add another layer of Parmesan and one slice of provolone. This all goes into the oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

HINT: From a guy who spent many years without a dishwasher and now has pots and pans that are not supposed to go into the dishwasher, now is a great time to start cleaning up. No body likes to do so after dinner and at this point you are in the kitchen and in work mode.

With this I chose not to have pasta which is the classice sdie. I instead chose to roast some asparagus with it. I put it in on a pan coated in olive oil with black pepper and garlic powder.

This is what the finished chicken parmigiana looks like.

Here it is on the dish. It was very, very good. Next time I do it I will make sure I flatten out the chicken breasts a bit more. They probably need to get down to 1/2 inch. Also, a little thicker layer of basil.

Two Weeks of Leisure?

2011-12-29T01:19:00.000-06:00

Day 1 - Meet the contractors here to repair the building. Agree to sell my car to one of them.
Day 2 - Drive to Rochele, IL, and buy a new(er) car
Day 3 - Trip to the vet. Transfer city sticker to new car.
Day 4 - Get new car on insurance policy. Order license plate bracket after city gives me a ticket for a missing front plate. Drive back to Rochelle. Pick up the old car and deliver it to its new owner.
Day 5 - ??
Day 6 - Drive to Lombard for Christmas Eve dinner.
Day 7 - Clean out and clean kitchen cabinets. Go to Christmas dinner.
Day 8 - Wiiiiiiinnneee hang over.
Day 9 - Paint the sun room and repaint a wall in the living room.
Day 10 - Take Mom to my brother's place. Get license plate bracket installed. Afternoon drinks a top the Hancock.

The one thing I haven't done yet... spend any time reading which had been the plan.

Merry Christmas to Me

2011-12-23T13:13:00.001-06:00

Even though a replacement car was a necessity I suppose we can count the Cadillac as the first present I bought myself. It's not the only gift I bought myself though. However, the Caddy and the second gift can never, ever mix.

At $90 per bottle this limited edition four Roses is going to be locked up when I have a party. What it is is a lovely bourbon for sipping while reading a good book. In fact, I half plan on having a glass tonight while reading Huckleberry Finn.

A New(er) Car

2011-12-23T12:10:00.000-06:00

I sold the BMW to a friend who wanted a winter car. We're in the process of getting the title switched over. I know it is weird feeling attachment to an inanimate object but I had her for 8 years and kind of miss her.

I've got a new mistress to fall in love with now. And here she is.

She's is a 2005 Cadillac CTS-V. It is a sharp car that is an awesome drive. The increase in power (400 bhp in the Caddy versus 190 bhp in the BMW) is staggering. If I mash the gas pedal to the floor in the Caddy I have to be sure it's clear in front of me. She's quite possibly one of the fastest cars I've ever driven.

For all that speed she's got softer handling than the BMW. It's taking a bit of getting used to. I can't throw her into turns like the BMW, or at least I don't have the confidence to do so yet. The wet and borderline freezing weather conditions so far this week definitely puts a damper on feeling for the edges.

Movement on the Car

2011-12-19T18:36:00.001-06:00

So I may have sold the BMW today. I guess that makes Day 1 of vacation productive. Of course, this means I have to find another car soon. This may mean I'm heading to Rochelle, IL, tomorrow. Yes, Rochelle.

Dinner!

2011-12-14T20:26:00.001-06:00

Dinner!
Originally uploaded by chicagoschraders

Pork chop, gold beets, and sauteed beet greens!

Paper! The Problem is Paper

2011-12-13T14:37:00.000-06:00

As I've at least hinted at over time I work as a computer programmer. Where I'm at now we have a large number of programs that run every night (m - f) to update the system. Those programs, literally hundreds of them, run on different platforms - a mainframe and a server - and run in a defined order.

We have software that defines the order and controls the process to insure the defined running order is maintained. Besides defining the order and controlling the flow of the programs the software also automatically contacts programmers if a program fails. Addditionally, we have a 28 page long document that graphically lays out the order. When a change is made in the controlling software we always, always update the document.

Last Friday one of the programs was put on hold. It was determined that there were only 3 programs that ran after that program. The person that made that determination used the 27 page long document. Yes, the 27 page document. That's not typo. The programmer was using a copy of the document that was printed prior to October 1st when the 28th page was added.

The new programs on page 28 depended on the completion of the program put on hold to run. Therefore those programs didn't run Friday. Because they didn't run, they didn't fail and there was no automated contact. I only discovered it because we were processing some new data on Friday night and I checked on the programs out of curiosity. I spent several hours yesterday determining what happened and resolving it.

The programmer that put the job on hold - at the direction of managers - should not be using a printed copy of the document. The updated document is readily available on our network and should have been checked.

End Of An Era?

2011-12-07T16:48:00.000-06:00

It looks like I'm on my last days of owning the red 1999 BMW 323i. She's been a great car. A car I've loved to drive. Unfortunately old age is catching up with her. She's been with the dealer since yesterday morning as they try to track down an electrical problem. A problem that drains the battery intermittently. While there they've found a bunch of other issues. The repairs are going to cost as much or more than she's worth.

If the electrical problem can be fixed... maybe I'll work through the repairs and keep her. I just don't know. I really don't want to be saddled with a car payment again but the amount of money I have to spend to fix her will be a substantial down payment on another car.

GOP Primaries

2011-11-29T11:21:00.000-06:00

Did you know there is a primary campaign going on to be the GOPper nominee for president next year? Well it makes sense. There's a ton of people running and they've been on TV debating each other 5 or 6 thousand times now. I'm more or less ignoring them. They are, every one of them, batshit crazy and dumber than the dining room table I through out years ago.

Today, initial reports are hitting the news that Herman Cain has talked with his staff about dropping from the presidential race. This comes on the heels of a woman claiming a 13 year long affair with the married Cain and follows weeks worth of accusations of sexual harassment and assault. His dropping from the race is far from surprising. Despite all his positives - the batshit crazy, the cowboy hat, the womanizing, Cain had one overriding trait the GOP base would never forgive.

Zorn called it three weeks ago although he seemed to think the sexual harassment was a problem. Foolish liberal. On his post Zorn goes on to ask readers to predict who will drop out next in the GOP primary. The first commenter "realist contingent" will be out before 2/1. Who are his realists? Huntsman, Johnson, and Santorum.

Wait, what? Santorum?

Thanksgiving Diner Invites - Inventors

2011-11-23T08:59:00.003-06:00

Friday morning NPR ran a story where a reviewer of classical music listed the classical composers he would invite to Thanksgiving dinner if he could. The premise is it could be anyone from history. He chose to go with all dead composers. A friend and I have had similar conversations in the past. Sometimes we'd discuss it in the "any body, ever" scenario. Sometimes we'd limit it to certain categories. We usually ran a list of ten. I'm going to play with this for the next few days until Thanksgiving. For now I'm going to keep myself to a limit of five people. I think I'll do one grand invite in the "any body, ever" category to end this run.

It's Wednesday, it's Humpday, and today we will be dining with inventors. This one is similar to the artists but I came up with a list quite quickly. Being in a technology field, albeit far from the cutting edge, I feel a lot of affinity to this group. Again, to have these people discuss their creative process. I can imagine them bouncing ideas back and forth off each other for the entire dinner. You and I would never be able to keep up.

Steve Jobs - I profess hate for all things Apple but there's no denying what Jobs accomplished. My Android phone and Zune music player are what they are because of Jobs. He has changed the lives of people (in the first world) more than anybody in recent history.
Leonardo DaVinci - Obviously DaVinci could have been in the artists category but I put him here so I could get a broader list.
Johannes Gutenberg - Can you imagine what the inventor of the printing press would think of today's world, of computers, and the Internet? He has to be here.
Grace Hopper - This is a bit personal. She invented the COBOL computer language.
Karl Benz - Received a patent for a gasoline 2-stroke internal combustion engine and later developed his own 4 stroke engine. He was one of the founders of the Mercedes-Benz automobile company.

Man so, so many possibilities. Henry Ford and his assembly line. James Watt and the steam engine. John Dunlap and the inflatable pneumatic tire. The Wright Brothers. Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. John Browning and his firearms. George Eastman and rolled film. Thomas Edison. Alexander Graham Bell. I'd let any of them sit at this table.

Thanksgiving Diner Invites - The Artsy-Fartsy Types

2011-11-22T09:16:00.033-06:00

Let's bring in the beret wearing set. Today we'll dine with artists. This was another hard category for me. I wish I was a better artist or creator of artistic work. I've tried fiction writing in the past and I'm honestly not good at it. Have you ever tried to write dialog? Holy shit! Whenever I've tried it hurts my ears to hear it. I wouldn't subject others to it. I would dearly love to hear a conversation between successful artistic people about how they practice their craft. About how they gain inspiration.

George R.R. Martin - Sci/Fi and fantasy novelist. Hollywood and TV script writer. Creator of my favorite book series of all time, A Song Of Ice And Fire, which is the basis of HBO's Game Of Thrones.
Pablo Picasso - As stated I know little about art. When I walk through the Chicago Art Museum though Picasso stands out to me.
Johan Sebastian Bach - I hear tell he's one of the great all time composers. I know little about it but enjoy much when I hear it.
Ella Fitzgerald - Considered one of the great singers of the past century.
Sir Alec Guinness - One of the great actors of our time.

If I were to add a 6th and 7th it would be Johnny Cash and Buddy Guy. I considered a whole bunch of other musicians I like listening to as well. Various actors came to mind.

You know, I really should have a photographer on the list. I'm not going to change it now but Ansel Adams or Vivian Maier.

Thanksgiving Diner Invites - The Scientists

2011-11-21T09:00:00.002-06:00

Proper dinner attire today will be long, white lab coats. Dinner will be prepared by Bunsen burner. Today we look at the scientists we (I) want at the table. Compiling this list my bias was clearly to the physics side of the world. I do get some chemistry and biology in the mix. I think I'd want each to give a brief synopsis of what he/she worked/works on and what they think is really interesting at the moment. I'd ask a lot of questions and surely reveal my ignorance. A back and forth between them would probably go way over my head but I'd hope to absorb something.

Today we get three currently living people.

Albert Einstein - The man I quote at the top of my blog clearly gets the first invite. General and special relativity. Cosmological Constant (aka dark energy). The smartest man ever? Maybe. IIRC, he once said Max Planck was the smartest scientist he knew.
Brian Greene - current researcher into String Theory. He has written several books and has a series of specials currently airing on NOVA on PBS. I find he can explain the complicated topics in a way that a non-scientist can understand.
Marie Curie - Won Nobels in Physics and Chemistry. Did seminal research into radioactivity.
György Paál - Led a team that discovered the Universe was expanding at an ever increasing rate. This led to confirmation of Einstein's Cosmological Constant, an idea Einstein considered his biggest mistake. To have Gyorgy there to explain it to Einstein... awesome.
James Dewey Watson - I'm way to heavy on the physical sciences. We need some biological sciences. James Dewey Watson was 1 of 3 to win a Nobel "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material"

Honorable mentions go to Max Planck - founder of quantum theory, Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo, and Nicolaus Copernicus. I know I'm missing a lot of biological sciences, people I can't name. They probably deserve their own dinner but I only have a so many days before Thanksgiving arrives.

Thanksgiving Diner Invites - Only The Living

2011-11-20T09:14:00.005-06:00

We won't have to cross the streams because today we dine only with people that are still alive. It turns out this was a tough category. I think it has a lot to do with how broad the category is. There's 7 billion people out there sucking up oxygen at this very moment. Choose only 5 of them. I dare you. I'm also a little disappointed in myself because my list ended up being so U.S. centric. If there were more days before Thanksgiving I'd do some research and come up with 5 people for each continent / region and have a separate dinner for each group.

Barak Obama - Do I really have to explain wanting the current president of the USA at my table? OK, how about this. I've donated a few hundred dollars to him over the years. He owes me. :) I'm also going to break my 5 person rule and have Michelle come as well.
Paul Krugman - Paul is a Nobel winning economist and, in my mind, has called the economy correctly for a long time.
Angelina Jolie - A creative type and a social activist. Plus, you know, hawt!
Phil Plait - Astronomer and the creator of Bad Astronomy blog. Let's bring some more science.
Sir Richard Branson - Billionaire businessman and adventurer. Our one non USA representative today.

As I implied above the potential alternate list is huge. Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, Felipe Calderon, or the leader of just about any country. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The current head of intelligence from Israel or Saudi Arabia.

I read probably a dozen bloggers each week and would love to have all of them. I'd start that list with John Cole and Ta-Nehisi Coates followed by all the bloggers at Discover Magazine not just Phil Plait.

Thanksgiving Dinner Invites - The Explorers

2011-11-19T09:32:00.006-06:00

Today, I'm looking at Explorers. These are men that boldly went where ~~no one had gone before~~ they knew nothing about where they were going or that where they were going even existed. I'm sure I'd have questions but really this would just be a dinner of listening to their stories and absorbing their adventures.

John Glenn The first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space.
Marco Polo - Spent 24 years traveling through Asia. Was an inspiration for Columbus
Lief Erickson - Viking explorer. He is believed to be the first European to reach the new world.
Wang Dayuan - I've never really heard of this guy before looking at a general list of explorers. I'll out source this to wiki, "He made two major trips on ships. During 1328-1333, he sailed along the South China Sea and visited many places in Southeast Asia and reached as far as South Asia, landing in Sri Lanka and India. In 1334-1339 he visited north Africa and East Africa." He also apparently wrote one of the earliest accounts of Singapore.
Richard Francis Burton. Per Wiki "English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat; known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures; according to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages."

Others that could have, or maybe should have, made it are Isabella Bird, the first woman inducted into the Royal Geographical Society who traveled through out Asia, one of the Spanish conquistadors, and Lewis and Clark.

Thanksgiving Dinner Invites - Dead Presidents

2011-11-18T13:17:00.002-06:00

This morning NPR ran a story where a reviewer of classical music listed the classical composers he would invite to Thanksgiving dinner if he could. The premise is it could be anyone from history. He chose to go with all dead composers. A friend and I have had similar conversations in the past. Sometimes we'd discuss it in the "any body, ever" scenario. Sometimes we'd limit it to certain categories. We usually ran a list of ten. I'm going to play with this for the next few days until Thanksgiving. For now I'm going to keep myself to a limit of five people. I think I'll do one grand invite in the "any body, ever" category to end this run.

Today I'm doing dead presidents. Obviously having a conversation with these kind of men about the times they lived in and to get their observations on today's political environment would be imminently fascinating.

Thomas Jefferson. This seems obvious, right? As a delegate to the Continental Congress he was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. He founded of the University of Virginia. He was an ambassador to France. He rewrote the Bible eliminating all references to Jesus' divinity but made sure to keep all the morality taught by Jesus. To hear his take on the current powers of the federal government and the relationship of the
Abraham Lincoln. He led this country through our second birth, the Civil War. His take on race relations today would be fascinating.
James Madison. The Father of the Constitution. Key author of the Federalist Papers. Originally an opponent of and then backer of The Bill Of Rights.
Dwight D. Eisenhower. A general that became president. Certainly there was precedent going all the wake back to Washington. A more contemporary view but still the last president born before 1900. In the past decade we've had so much WWII memorials in the media. I'd love to hear his points of view first hand. Plus to hear what he thinks of the modern GOP.
Theodore Roosevelt. The original progressive and a trust buster. An outdoors man and hunter that created the National Parks system.

I'm sure many people will be surprised not to have George Washington on the list. If I was going to 6 or 7 he clearly would have made the cut. By limiting myself to 5 though I couldn't over concentrate on founding fathers. Others I strongly considered were Ulysses S Grant to hear his take on the Civil War. William Howard Taft, the only man to be president and serve on the Supreme Court. And one of the more contemporary presidents from the 60s and 70s. Probably LBJ but maybe Nixon.

Off Season Shenanigans

2011-11-17T13:22:00.000-06:00

While y'all are being distracted by that other thing that happens on Sundays, Bud Selig is busy fucking up baseball again.

They're adding more teams to the playoffs. Uhg! Even I think they last too long. But that's not the worst of it. They are moving the hapless Houston Astros to the hapless American League West. This will mean there are an odd number of teams in the NL and the AL.

Selig is hopeful that the wild-card teams can be added for 2012 but indicated that logistical concerns could delay it until ’13, [b]when the 15/15 alignment of leagues will require inter-league play to expand from a two-month segment of the schedule into a season-long piece.[/b]

This is the shit that happens when you let a used car salesman manage.

Perception of Time

2011-11-16T11:00:00.003-06:00

After volleyball last night the brother and I stopped in Newport Bar and Grill. It has a U-shaped bar. We sat at the left, bottom corner of the U. At the other corner was a group of 5 guys and girl. They were a bit loud - not obnoxious - and ordering a lot of shots.

Bartender (To us and a regular): "I think it's a 21st birthday."
LpCardsFan: Could be.
Bartender (To apparent bday boy): "Is it your 21st birthday?"
BDay Boy: "No. 21 was a long time ago."
Barender: 25th?
BDay Boy: "Two years younger than that."
(The bartender, the regular, my brother, and I all guffawed.)
LpCardsFan (to brother): If it makes you feel any better, they've wasted their entire lives on Facebook.

I remember my 23rd birthday. Vaguely. If I recall the two years between 21 and 23 did seem a long gap at the time. Life is different now. I'm trying to figure out where 2010 went. And 2011 is nearly over.

When I was young, maybe in junior high school, my father told me that time sped up as you got older. I thought he was nuts at the time. At the very least he was exaggerating. Now? Now, I get it. Technically, time passes at the same speed* now as it did those decades ago when I was roving the halls of Jefferson Junior High. A minute takes 60 seconds to elapse now and then. A second still has a duration of 9,192,631,770 cycles of radiation corresponding to the transition between two energy levels of the cesium-133 atom.

The difference between my 12 year old self and my 40 year old self is the number of responsibilities I have. The number of activities I have to complete** in a week now are vastly greater than I had when I was 12. They're quite a bit greater than when I was 21. Or 23 too. I believe the more down time one has the more one notices time passing and that makes time seem to slow down.

So I get it. At 23 there is less one has to do and one notices time inching by. Additionally, those two years between his 21st and 23rd birthday represents close to 10% of his life.

* The General Theory of Relativity not withstanding.
** Almost all those activites are self-imposed.

No, no, no. A thousand times, no.

2011-11-16T09:20:00.000-06:00

In introducing a story on Penn State scandal and the number of people coming forward across the country to report past abuse the NPR host said (slight paraphrase), "We've been following the Penn State scandal. In the resulting tumult the university lost its president and head football coach."

I hate to go all Language Police on you but "lost" is not the word you are going for here. Socks get lost in the drier. Debit cards are lost when left at a store. Employees are even lost when they voluntarily quit or retire.

Former university President Spanier and former coach Joe Paterno were fired. They were fired for their part in covering up the serial raping of children on campus by one of their employees. Their firing is the beginning of the bare minimum PSU must do

Three P's: PSU, Paterno, and the Press

2011-11-10T09:22:00.001-06:00

The media storm about the scandal surrounding Penn State, it's football program, and head coach Joe Paterno has raged all week. In brief, an assistant coach was a serial sexual abuser of children and was caught raping a 10 year old boy in the shower. That was years ago. The incident was reported and Paterno and the college administration covered it up. Last night the Penn State Board of Trustees fired Paterno.

It was so clearly the right thing to do it is hard to fathom any other outcome. Yet many people predicted Paterno would hang on. Especially when he announced yesterday afternoon he would retire after this season. This is the free press in a democracy doing it's job.

A college in small town is an insular community. Any such community will inevitably have a culture to protect it's own beyond the norm. Maybe the Board of Trustees would have done this without the on going media storm. Maybe not. The media made the decision all but inevitable. Everyone knows what happened. Everyone knew those complicit were still employed by the PSU. The university had to protect itself and start to make amends for what happened. That couldn't happen with the conspirators still employed.

UPDATE: I agree with John Cole that this is just the beginning. More bodies and more firings are coming down the pipeline.

Managerial Candidate

2011-11-02T15:56:00.000-05:00

(All season with very little baseball posts and now you get a ton of them.)

Interesting. I didn't see this coming. The Cardinals have asked for and received permission to talk to Ryne Sandberg about the managerial opening created by Tony La Russa's retirement. Although my brother has an unnatural and unhealthy hatred for Sandberg I think his attitude about and approach to the game fits with the St. Louis philosophy. The more I think about it the more I actually kind of like this idea.

Still, I don't think it is going to happen. I think if The Birds go with a manager without Major League experience they will go internal to Jose Oquendo.

Celebration and Uncertainty

2011-10-31T13:17:00.000-05:00

Friday night was officially a joyful event. The St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series title, the third of my lifetime. We partied hard and celebrated a win by a team that had faltered most of the season. A team most of us had written off before it went on an incredible run.

As I predicted, we almost immediately got articles about how the Cardinals did not deserve the win. This one at least talks about the ability to make a "short run" of wins to beat "better teams." Still, I don't believe you would have ever seen this story if Philadelphia or Texas had gone on to win the World Series even though the reasoning holds no matter who wins.

Not 72 hours later we learn that Tony LaRussa, Super Genius ^TM, is retiring. He is 67 years old and has been managing major league baseball teams for 33 years. His first year was 1979 with the Chicago White Sox. I've had my issues with Tony over the last couple of years but there's no denying his success. Even my most recent rant becomes almost completely irrelevant with a World Series title. With LaRussa gone it seems like we could have a lot of coaching staff turn over. Pitching Coach Dave Duncan, widely admired, has been with LaRussa since the 1983. He missed many weeks on leave this year tending to a sick family member. He has one more year on his contract with the Cardinals but I don't really expect him back. Additionally, hitting coach Mark McGwire's future has to be called into question. I randomly hear some good things about his coaching ability but I can't help but think of him as a LaRussa rehabilitation project.

The more pressing concern for the Cardinals and its fans is Albert Pujols. He officially became a free agent today. Widely considered the best hitter in baseball today Pujols is sure to demand - and maybe receive - top dollar on the free market. He and the Cardinals couldn't reach terms before the season started and by mutual agreement did not negotiate during the season. The Cardinals have until 12:00AM Wednesday to negotiate exclusively with him. At that point he can talk to any and all teams. I'm not sure who can afford him at the terms it is assumed he's looking for. Additionally in the 2010 season Pujols made a comment, and I'm certainly paraphrasing, "I want to play for LaRussa for the rest of my career." I don't think that means Pujols will be retiring this year but I think it breaks some of the connection between the he and the Cardinals.

So while Cardinals Nation is still basking in the glow of a World Series win we immediately have concerns about our future.

Best Game 6 Ever? Maybe.

2011-10-28T00:47:00.000-05:00

Go Birds!

That is all.

Tar And Feathers

2011-10-25T12:53:00.004-05:00

It is time to run Tony LaRussa Super Genius^TM out of town in a suit of tar and feathers.

The 8th Inning travesty has been amply covered by many people around the intertubes. Tom Verducci has the most definitive take down I've read. LaRussa claiming to have been twice misunderstood by his bullpen coach is either too implausible to be true or too implausible to not be true. Who knows? All I know about the 8th is that Tony LaRussa Super Genius^TM pulled his best right hand reliever to bring in a pitcher that was "unavailable" to intentionally walk a right handed batter. That reliever was then immediately lifted.

The 8th Inning may be where the winning runs were scored but it was only because of some of the worst base running / sac bunt calls I've ever witnessed. It goes to the top of the 3rd. Furcal leads off with a single and advanced to 2nd on an error. Allen Craig comes to the plate with THE BEST HITTER IN THE GAME on deck. What does Tony LaRussa Super Genius^TM do? He calls for fucking sac bunt. Furcal gets to 3rd and now there's one out. What does Ron Washington do? Holds up 4 fingers. Intentional walk to THE BEST HITTER IN THE GAME. A double play later and the threat is gone.

There was zero reason to take the bat out of Craig's hand and insuring the bat is taken out of the hands of THE BEST HITTER IN THE GAME. If you let Craig swing away what could happen?

Craig strikes out. Result: runner on 2nd. Washington walks Pujols.

Craig puts the ball in play and makes an out. Result: runner on 2nd or 3rd. Washington walks Pujols.

Craig walks. Result: runners at 1st and 2nd. Washington has to pitch to THE BEST HITTER IN THE GAME.

Craig puts the ball in play and gets a hit. Result: Furcal probably scores. OOO! That's a run. If Craig ends up at 1st then they have to pitch to THE BEST HITTER IN THE GAME. If Furcal doesn't score then Craig is almost asssuredly on 1st and they have to pitch to THE BEST HITTER IN THE GAME.

So there are four possible out comes by letting Craig bat. Two of them result in Pujols getting to swing the bat. Craig has a .438 OBP in the post season. That's a pretty good chance of Pujols getting to swing. By bunting his chances of batting reached 0.000%.

The hit and run plays with Craig at 1B and Pujols at the plate in the 7th and 9th innings resulted in an IBB and a strike-out-throw-out double play respectively.

Texas may have won Game 5 even without these craptacular calls. With them, Tony LaRussa Super Genius^TM guaranteed a Texas win.

%&@*^@ LaRussa

2011-10-24T23:34:00.002-05:00

I'll probably have more to say later but for now let's just say Tony LaRussa, Super Genius ^TM, is on my shit list

Lights. Camera. Action?

2011-10-21T08:49:00.000-05:00

You're long over due Ozzie updates. He's doing fine.

Helping me while I work from home:

Another work from home assistance shot:

Helping with the laundry

And after a hard day's work Ozzie likes nothing more than to watch a baseball game.

Packed And Ready

2011-10-18T23:16:00.001-05:00

Ozzie is ready for the trip to St. Louis and Game 1 of the World Series.

Volleyball Spectator

2011-10-18T22:54:00.002-05:00

Waiting to get on the court earlier tonight and the other team starts showing up. Two of the arrivals are this short girl and this monster of man wearing gray sweats and baseball cap. The sweatshirt simply says "FOOTBALL." I ribbed my team, "Hey, looks like we're playing Urlacher tonight."

My brother looks over. "You know how to play guys like that right? You serve the big oafs until they prove they can beat you."

It's a common theory. We all nod in agreement. The game before ours runs over a few minutes. We finally rush onto the court and start warming up. When I looked over to the other side I see they have 3 guys on the court (this is a co-ed 6s league) and the big guy's not one of them.

We get the first game going and they beat us pretty handily. We were trying a new offense, had a new player, and just didn't play well. Switch sides for game two. We got our shit together. We beat 'em by about 5 points in the second game.

All the while I'm watching the big dude watching our game. Two or three people came up to him randomly and shake his hand. You know what, it is fucking Brian Urlacher. We talk about it between the 2nd and 3rd game. Yes, it is most definitely Brian Urlacher. The girls ask why he's here. Who's he with? "The little girl," I answer, "The one with the big ______"

We kicked their asses in game 3. 25 - 12.

Stash the Copenhaggen

2011-10-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

While watching the last game of the NLCS on Sunday I saw Prince Fielder come back from an at-bat. He took a seat, opened his tin, and packed in a huge wad of tobacco into his mouth. I was surprised the camera stayed on him.

Then I see this. Now that Congress has found jobs for all 15MM+ people out of work they are asking MLB to ban use of chewing tobacco.

Going To The Series!

2011-10-17T11:54:00.000-05:00

And not just the Cardinals. I bought tickets today (don't ask). My brother and I are going to Game 1.

In regards to my last post, the talking heads on MLB Network last night gave the Cardinals some respect. To paraphrase, they said the Cardinals beat the best team in baseball (the Phillies) and then beat the team with the best home records in the National League (the Brewers) and they deserved to go to the series.

Another thing I was reminded of during the NLCS. Nine or ten years ago my father told me that the new Cardinal was going to be something special. I agreed that he looked like a good hitter but I thought his defense at 3B and LF were good but not spectacular.

Last year I told my father to watch our new third baseman. He's got power, he's a good fielder, and seems like an all around good player. It just worries me that he's dealt with some injuries in his career. The player I mentioned, David Freese, won the NLCS MVP award last night.

Is he as good as the guy my dad pointed out a decade ago? No, there's only one king.

Cardinals Getting Dangerfield Treatment

2011-10-13T10:53:00.000-05:00

My Cardinals now lead the National League Championship Series 2 - 1 over the Milwaukee Brewers. I know I haven't written much about baseball this year but believe me I've been paying attention over the past couple of months. The Birds were written off at the end of August when they were 10-1/2 games out of the Wild Card. Then they got hot. Then they over took a struggling Atlanta Braves. Then they made the playoffs.

In the first round they went up against the big money Phillies. The Phillies were the anointed winner of the National League and preordained to play the Boston Red Sox in the 2011 World Series. Every prognosticator said so. Then something weird happened. The Cardinals won game 2 in Philadelphia. The series went 5 innings with a match up of two former Cy Young award winners. The Phillies starter, Roy Halladay, went 8 innings giving up just a single run on 6 hits. Cardinals starter, Chris Carpenter, threw a complete game, 3 hit, shutout.

It was impossible. The Cardinals didn't deserve it. They had snuck into the playoffs because a better team, Atlanta had faltered. They didn't deserve this win. The Phillies had rolled over.

Never mind the Cardinals had a winning record against the Phillies in the regular season.
Never mind the Cardinals have the best player in the game.
Never mind the Cardinals have very good starting pitching.
Never mind the Cardinals have a manager that has the most post seasons wins of any active manager.

Now we're facing the Central Division champion Milwaukee Brewers. Last off season they went out and got great starting pitching to go along with their potent offense. At the All Star break they traded for a closer with 30+ save seasons to be their 8th inning set up man. Milwaukee is destined to beat the Cardinals.

If (WHEN!) the Cardinals beat the Brewers I predict we'll hear the same thing. The Brewers were a better team. The Cardinals snuck past them because so-and-so didn't play well.

Never mind the Cardinals had a winning record against the Brewers in the regular season.
Never mind the Cardinals have the best player in the game.
Never mind the Cardinals have very good starting pitching.
Never mind the Cardinals have a manager that has the most post seasons wins of any active manager.

If the Cardinals go on to win the World Series (probably against the Texas Rangers) I predict we will again hear how the Cardinals beat a better team. In 2006 we heard how the Cardinals shouldn't have beat The Hated New York Mets. And then we heard how they shouldn't have beat the Detroit Tigers.

Never mind the Cardinals have the best player in the game.
Never mind the Cardinals have very good starting pitching.
Never mind the Cardinals have a manager that has the most post seasons wins of any active manager.

Yes, the Cardinals are streaky. They go on long runs of winning and then long runs of losing. It frustrates the hell out of me when I see them put up 10 runs in one game and then 1 run the next day. I don't think it is a given we will beat the Brewers or win the world series. However, the Cardinals are a good team and when they are hot they are as good as any team in baseball today.

What frustrates me more than the losing streaks? The lack of respect.

Damn You Auto Spell Correction

2011-10-10T12:43:00.000-05:00

After softball yesterday a couple of us made a last minute decision to fire up the grill and get together at my place. It was a perfect night for it. Especially being October. I sent a text to a couple of other friends to let them know. Due to auto-correct spelling I sent:

"Gripping my place 630. BYO meat beer etc."

NYPD Can Take Down A Plane?

2011-09-27T19:28:00.002-05:00

That's their claim from a 60 Minutes interview. Here at the NY Post (which always has some questionable pics on the sidebars), they claim the weapon they have is a Barret .50 caliber rifle that can be mounted to a helicopter.

So their going to take down fixed wing aircraft with a rifle on a helicopter? They've been trained for it. I'm skeptical.

It's kind of hard to hit a moving target from another moving target. Especially when the speeds vary. Fighter planes, when using guns, utilize automatic weapons that put hundreds of rounds in the air. They seem to be claiming that it's a single shot rifle. The likelihood of a miss seems high. The likelihood of collateral damage is also high.

Weapons analysts said one .50 caliber round fired into a car engine would stop the vehicle cold.

The bullets — variations of which have been used by the military since the 1920s — will penetrate most commercial brick walls and concrete cinder blocks.

But let's say, just for shits and grins, these yahoos get off a lucky shot and bring down a plane. Where exactly might it come down? Certainly not on a populated are, right?

Nah!

Dear Carlos Marmol: Thank you!

2011-09-26T13:58:00.000-05:00

If the Cardinals make the playoffs, this performance by the Cub's Carlos Marmol will earn him consideration for the Cardinals' team MVP.

Matt Holliday got the [9th] inning going with a one-out single to center. He was removed for pinch-runner Tyler Greene, who stole second and took third base thanks to an error on the play. That surely increased the pressure on Marmol, who had trouble finding the strike zone from there on out. After David Freese struck out, Marmol walked Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker to load the bases.

Chambers pinch-ran for Molina, a move that proved invaluable. Marmol couldn't find the zone against ex-teammate Ryan Theriot, walking him on six pitches as Theriot never swung the bat. With an 0-1 count against Rafael Furcal, Marmol uncorked the wild pitch that scored Chambers.

It Is Amazing We're Even Alive

2011-09-14T10:02:00.000-05:00

I've started reading Ghost Wars by Steve Coll. I'll put up a longer review when I'm done. For now I'm just 100 pages into the book. I read the following passage on the El this morning.

(CIA Director William) Casey mumbled. In business his secretaries refused to take dictation because they couldn't understand what he was saying. He had taken a blow to the throat while boxing as a boy and he had a thick palate ... Even President Reagan couldn't understand him. During an early briefing Casey delivered to the national security cabinet, Reagan slipped Vice President Bush a note: "Did you understand a word he said?" Reagan later told William F. Buckley, "My problem with Bill was that I didn't understand him at meetings. Now, you can ask a person to repeat himself once. You can ask him twice. But you can't ask him a third time. You start to sound rude. So I'd just nod my head, but I didn't know what he was actually saying." Such was the dialogue for six years between the president and his intelligence chief in a nuclear-armed nation running secret wars on four continents.

(My emphasis)

Dear FSM it is amazing we ever lived to see 1988.

Today's Stat

2011-09-13T11:16:00.000-05:00

.036

Is Adam Dunn's slugging percentage in 100 plate appearances against left handed pitching this year.

That is unbelievably bad. That's freaking horrendous. This past year the White Sox gave Dunn a 4 year, $56M deal. This year certainly could be an anomolay but this might very well be the worst free agent signing in history.

Another Random 10

2011-09-08T10:41:00.002-05:00

The Zune player had good taste on this morning's first 10 random songs.

In The Jailhouse Now - Willie Nelson and Webb Pierce
Fool About You - Hank Williams. Not Jr. Not the third. Hank.
Exodus - Marley
Subtarranean Homesick Blues - Dylan
Love Child - Diana Ross and The Supremes
Winner Takes It All - Sammy Hagar
I Don't Know - Andrew "Big Voice" Odom
Little Wing - Jimmy Hendrix
Working My Way Back To You - The Four Seasons
Up On The Ridge - Joe Ely

Rules of The Road and Rights of Way

2011-09-06T09:27:00.000-05:00

This morning a buddy of mine sent an email asking my opinion of 3 incidents he had with cyclists this weekend. All three incidents, taking place in less than a half hour, involved cyclists riding on the sidewalk in his residential neighborhood. The first was a delivery man, the second was some other adult, and the third was an elderly lady riding very slowly. My buddy made comments to all three of them about not belonging on the side walk and received some dirty looks and a few curses in return. He emailed me wanting to know if he was in the wrong. In short, no, he wasn't. This was my response.

I can sum up sidewalk riders in two words, quoted from Roman Moronie in Johnny Dangerously, "Fargin Bastages."

Like you I would have given way for the old lady. I probably would have let it go without comment but then again, after the first two incidents maybe not. I sometimes find myself on a sidewalk during the last or first block of a ride as I'm arriving at or leaving some place. Still I try to avoid this very much because of the incidents you are talking about. I've never said anything but I even get a little peeved at parents riding on the sidewalk with their children. I'm not sure what the cut off should be but it seems to me there should be a point where the child can ride on the sidewalk with the parent paralleling him in the street.

Often enough when I'm riding I am intentionally not following the rules of the road. I'll roll through stop signs. I'll run a red light (almost always stopping first). I'll ride the wrong way on a one way. BUT, but, I know when I'm doing this that I'm yielding a lot of my right of way. People don't expect me to come from the wrong direction. People don't expect me to run a red light. I can't speak for other cyclists but I make sure when I do it I yield to others.

I remember years ago being in Ohio on the boat with Lance. Lance explained the rules about right of way on the lake. Basically, the smaller and speedier and more maneuverable a boat is the less right of way they have. So jet skis give way to power boats. Power boats give way to sail boats. I have a similar theory when it comes to the interaction of pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicles. I base it on vulnerability and speed.

Pedestrians always get the right of way. This doesn't mean they can't be stupid. Stepping out from between two parked cars, especially if one of them is a truck you can't see over, is a recipe for disaster. Cyclists are next. Yeah we can attain speeds of 20 or even 30 mph but we've got no armor plating. Motorcycles third. Same as cyclists but with a lot more speed and weight behind them. Then on to cars, trucks, delivery vans, etc.

That's enough rambling for now. Basically you were in the right and well with in bounds to say something.

Mmmmm, Bacon

2011-09-02T18:52:00.000-05:00

It's what's for dinner.

Unrecoverable

2011-09-01T23:02:00.000-05:00

Just back from the Bears game... That's 3 hours of my life that is unrecoverable. The next person to tell me baseball is boring is getting a swift kick in the junk.

I've complained about a watching football on TV. It's boring. They show the same play over and over and over and over again. And again. No such luxury at a game. Nope, the only thing to do is look at a bunch of fat men aimlessly mill around the field. Does football realize they have a clock? Two of them actually. Yet in the middle of the game both of them were stopped and 22 meat covered robots are aimlessly milling about.

Hey, not everyone has to enjoy everything. People find pleasure in it and I'm happy for them. Personally, I'd rather supervise a wall with a fresh coat of paint

Are You Ready For Some Football!

2011-08-31T19:36:00.000-05:00

Yeah, baby, that's right. Going to the game tomorrow night. Woohoo!

Wait? What? What do you mean that's not the right game? We're going to watch what?

A buddy texted today to say he had free tickets to tomorrow night's Bears pre-season game. He wanted to know if I wanted to go. I agreed to go.

I'm trying to remember, in my entire life, I'm guessing this will be about the 7th game I've ever actually attended. That's counting all levels of play be it high school, college, or pro. The first time was when I was 16 or 17 and visiting a friend at college. We went to see the Illinois State University team play. That was the FIRST TIME I had ever watched a game period. I'd never even watched one on TV up to that point.

I don't remember if it was the 2nd or 3rd quarter of that game when I figured out what "yardage" was. As in, the offensive team needs to gain 10 years to get a first down. I had some concept of downs from playing a few pick up games as a kid. Obviously we didn't have marked lines so we - and by we I mean people that presumedly knew something about football - would place cones along the sidelines. You had to get past those cones to reset the downs, i.e. get a first down.

I went to maybe 5 ISU games the first year I attended the school. Later, just out of school, on a road trip with friends we stopped over in Indianapolis and saw a Colts game. I remember there were cheerleaders. I couldn't tell you who the Colts played or if they won or not.

Last year I maybe watched, make that "watched," four games. One with the Calc Teacher, one with a buddy and the Calc Teacher at a local bar, the playoff game at a house party where the Bears were eliminated and the Superbowl. None of those games I really paid much attention to. Green Bay played someone - Pittsburgh? - in the Superbowl.

So why am I doing this? Damned if I really know. I do want to see Soldier Field now that Daley and the McCaskeys built that ugly-ass UFO inside the once beautiful columns. I had been to the pre-renovated Soldier Field to see the Chicago Fire and the Women's World Cup. So I guess that's it. And damn the McCaskeys for getting rid of the Honey Bears.

PS. The Fire won. The Women's World Cup match was actually a double header. The USA beat Nigeria and Brazil beat Italy.

There Is Still Low Hanging Fruit

2011-08-30T16:16:00.000-05:00

Last October I posted about the opportunities to improve our national infrastructure. That opportunity still exists. In fact, as Ezra Klein points out it has gotten even better. It's better because the government has access to ALL THE FREE MONEY IT WANTS.

Usually, the U.S. government has to pay quite a bit to borrow money. In January 2003, for instance, the interest rate on a seven-year Treasury was about 3.6 percent, which gave investors a yield of more than two percent after accounting for inflation. Right now, the interest rate is 1.52 percent, or minus-0.34 percent after accounting for inflation.

Here’s what this means: If we can think of any investments we can make over the next seven years that have a return of zero percent — yes, you read that right — or more, it would be foolish not to borrow this money and make them.

The case is even stronger with investments we know we will need to make over the next decade. The economy will get better, and as it gets better, the cost of borrowing will rise. The longer we wait, in other words, the more expensive those investments will become.

Mother Nature may force us to take advantage of some of this money. This summer she showed her wrath across the Midwest with Joplin, MO, being the poster child.

She just sent her child Irene to do a number on the east coast.

Not that there aren't other projects that need to be done. OK, maybe a bad example as this shows a place where government spent money poorly. But really, the money is free. Actually, it is better than free. Investors are willing to take a negative return on the money to allow the US Government to have it. They're willing to pay for the privilege of loaning the money to the federal government. It would be productive to borrow the money and just hand it out on street corners.

Still, useful projects are out there.

On a small scale, ever since the city of Chicago had all the parking meters removed cyclists have had a hard time finding secure places to lock up their bikes. New bike racks would be useful.

In my neighborhood there are many streets that look like a rogue group of jack hammer operators came through.

On a large scale the national infrastructure still needs several hundred billion dollars in upgrades. It will be dramatically cheaper to perform these upgrades now when money is better than free than in the future when it will cost more to borrow.

Of course to take advantage of this we would rational and non-hypocritical leaders in charge. Instead we have this.

Musical Random First 10 + 1

2011-08-30T08:43:00.000-05:00

Switched the Zune over to random music when the Red Line went underground this morning. The results:

Suspicion by Elvis
Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain by Willie
This Hard Land by Bruce
The Fool On The Hill by The Beatles
Johnny B. Goode covered by Dr. Feelgood
Little White Lie by Sammy Hagar
Feather Pluckin by The Presidents Of The United States of America
Happiness by Blue Nile (skipped*)
Crawlin King Snake by John Lee Hooker
Gee Baby, Ain't I Good by Ella
There'll Never Be by Switch

* I burned a bunch of music from a friend who was living with me for a while. The Blue Nile was one of many bands I didn't know. Christiany crapola. I really need to remove it from the player.

Watched: Senna

2011-08-25T09:55:00.000-05:00

I saw the documentary Senna last night. I had a brief love affair with Formula 1 racing while in college. I would be up at 6AM on Sundays to watch the races on ESPN. Ayrton Senna, a racer from Brazil, was one of the best racers at the time. Some argue he was the best race car driver of all time.

The film opens with Senna racing Go Carts just before transitioning to Formula 1. In his rookie year, 1984, he showed how special he was. In Formula 1 racing there are 3 or 4 teams that win and then there are the other teams. Senna was racing for one of the other teams that had little expectation of winning a race and no chance of winning a championship. In the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, a course that is narrow and allows for very little passing - Senna took his also ran car from the back of the pack all the way up to 2nd place. In the rain! He looked likely to pass the first place car and win but the race was stopped due to the rain. Based on his rookie year performance Senna went on to the McLaren team, with a brief stop at Lotus, where he would win 3 championships before dying in a wreck in 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix.

All of the footage of the movie is archival. The graininess of the footage stands in stark contrast to today's HD footage we've all become accustomed to. There is voice over from those present at the time. Still a lot of the story is told via interviews from the time. The movie is very much a celebration of Senna's life and accomplishments. Senna's chief rival for most of his career was Alain Prost. The rivalry, and the film, peak with the 1989 and 1990 Japanese Grand Prixs. Both years the two drivers were involved in controversial crashes with each other. Both crashes would determine the Championships for the year.

Throughout Senna is depicted as the humble, devout, gifted driver juxtaposed against Prost as the arrogant Frenchman who works the political system of Formula 1. The adjective humble is used to describe Senna on multiple occasion. Senna was certainly soft spoken and at times very shy. In his interviews he often spoke of his religious belief and how his racing skill was a gift from God. I don't really buy into the humble description though. I don't think anyone who rises to the top of a sport can be truly humble.

The movie has been winning critical acclaim from many sources. I would definitely recommend it.

Concourse d'Lemon: Touching Encouraged

2011-08-24T14:03:00.009-05:00

The Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach is one of the most prestigious and snootiest car shows in the US if not the world. The Ferrari Daytonas I wrote about in Monday's post could appear at Pebble Beach. Lest you think all car buffs are stuffy old shirts with loads of money or those wishing to be loaded and stuffy shirted, I present to you the Concourse d'LeMon At this car show taking place as the same time as Pebble Beach the competition categories include

Rust Belt American Junk
Unmitigated Gaul
Soul-Sucking Japanese Appliance

The event encourages car owners to bribe the judges. This year's Worst In Show was a 1980 KV Mini 1.

Photos from the NYT. More from Autoweek.

Market Fickleness

2011-08-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

You don't get into the collector car market for an investment. More correctly I should say you shouldn't get into the collector car market for an investment. Oh, like any market if your timing is good you can make a pretty penny but you shouldn't do it unless you actually love the cars. Unfortunately the market doesn't necessarily work that way. Personally, I blame the Baby Boomers.

I'm a big fan of the Ferrari Daytona. I have been since I discovered its existence. Think the original black car from Miami Vice above.

When I first started paying attention in the early 90s these cars went about $500K for a coupe and $750K for an original spider, Ferrari's term for a convertible. All Daytonas started life as coupes but Ferrari sent 120 some to a coach builder to convert them to spiders. A lot of people have used various builders to convert their coupes to spiders over time. Since I started paying attention prices for Daytonas have gone through many ups and downs. I've never graphed it but I've always felt collectible car prices were a trailing indicator of the stock market.

Last August this original spider sold for $1.05MM.

This weekend a coupe (middle car above) with less than 10K miles bid up to about $330K but didn't sell because it failed to meet the owner's reserve price.

However, this convertible, that started life as a coupe, sold for $300K. One thing that makes this conversion special is the original owner sent his coupe to the same coach builder that Ferrari used and had the conversion done to Ferrari specifications. In the collector market originality is everything and this isn't original. However, it is as close as you can get.

Without cross referencing the car's VIN with the factory production logs one would be very hard pressed to know the difference between this car and the $1M car sold 12 months ago at the same auction. Two data points to not make a trend. Auctions notoriously give inconsistent results as it takes just two or more interested buyers to drive up a sale price. Still these two sales hint a decrease in prices may be underway. Not that I'll ever afford a Ferrari Daytona on my current career path. One must have interests though.

Kitten Under Glass

2011-08-21T11:10:00.002-05:00

Kitten Under Glass
Originally uploaded by chicagoschraders

When Ozzie decides I've been on the computer too long - like say for 2 minutes - he gets on the PC tower and helps me type.

Tacos On The Deck

2011-08-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

I don't plan on this becoming a food and book blog. Although that may not be the worst thing that ever happened.

Sometimes, The Simple Things

2011-08-18T09:23:00.001-05:00

Last night for dinner I had

A well spiced, juicy NY strip steak
Sauteed fresh spinach with garlic and cracked pepper
A fresh picked heirloom tomato lightly salted
A glass of Bordeaux

An hour or so later I headed out to the store to pick up a couple items. Two flights down I smelled someone cooking a grilled cheese sandwich. It smelled so damn good I became disappointed in my own mean.

What May Obtain

2011-08-17T19:53:00.002-05:00

I just completed A Beautiful Piece by Joesph G Peterson. The book is set in Chicago during the 1995 heat wave. A heat wave where about 750 people died of heat exposure. The book is narrated in the first person by the character Robert.

Unlike Treasure Island, this is an adult book. Not in an X-rated sense but it explores themes that one must have lived a while to understand. The main theme is unrealized dreams. Robert finds himself living alone and lonely. He is possibly unemployed and wishing his life had turned out different. Throughout he theorizes why his life is what it is what he could or should do about it.

Besides Robert the book have very few characters. There is Lucy, the woman Robert is having an affair with. Lucy is a lifeline out of the rut of his life. The Vet is Robert's best friend and drinking partner. The Vet is his anchor. Epstein is another friend of Robert's who he fishes with and is a different kind of anchor. Robert idolizes Epstein referring to him as "My Mystic." Although the main theme of the book is loneliness and unrealized dreams, of wishing for a better life. Through the Vet and Epstein the book also shows unconditional friendship. Even if that friendship isn't always recognized and appreciated.

The final character of consequence is Matthew Gliss, Lucy's fiance.

It is short book at just 205 pages but it has no chapters. The style of the writing is very much an exploration of how memories come into a person's mind. Memories are circular and fold back onto one another over and over again. And like memories they do not come in chronological order and the same memory occurs repeatedly.

The book has no chapters but is fast paced. Because of the style of writing the lack of chapters isn't a detriment. It can easily be picked up in the middle of a page.

I guess this book would not be for everyone. I found myself very able to identify with Robert, however. Not that I'm in the same boat he is but at times I've had many of the same feelings. I very much loved this book and would recommend it.

Now Accepting Oaths of Fealty

2011-08-15T09:14:00.001-05:00

10 people elected me as president of the condo association board last night. I shall now accept oaths of fealty.

Pop Quiz!

2011-08-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

pic via Boston Biker

So you've just successfully parallel parked. I'm proud of you. No, it's true, I am. We've been working on this for so long. Now that we have the parking down we need to discuss the safe way to exit a car. For today we'll just go with a single, multiple-choice question.

Q. You've successfully parallel parked your car. The safest procedure to exit the car is?

1. Tuck your cell phone under your ear while telling your girlfriend what that new, cute guy you're dating asked you to do last night. Grab dangle your keys in your left hand. With your right hand grab your purse, the two DSW bags and the bag with the boots from Aldo that were just so cute. Pull the car door handle while kicking the door open with your left foot and hop out while telling your girlfriend you agreed to do it for him but just this one time.

or

2. Turn off your phone - because, you know, you're not supposed to be talking on a phone while driving any way, and put it in your purse. Gather your bags and purse in your lap. Look over your left shoulder. Don't just glance! Actually look over your shoulder and identify any dangers. These could include, but are not limited to moving vehicles that are close to your car. Make sure you have space! Bicycles are moving anywhere from 10 to 30 miles per hour. Cars swerve into bike lanes. Trust me, they swerve into bike lanes. Once you are sure it is safe quickly exit the car, shut the door, and get out of the way of traffic.

Treasure Island

2011-08-08T13:31:00.001-05:00

I finished Treasure Island over the weekend. It is amazing how much I'm reading since the lightning storm wiped out my TV a week and a half ago. For those concerned, the new TV arrives Thursday. You may commence being jealous.

Before I get to Treasure Island let me make a follow up to my Dance With Dragons post. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the book. Martin's writing is as good as it has been in any of the previous Ice and Fire books. The story line moves along at a good pace. There are answers to past questions and new questions arise. All in all I loved the book. I'm just pissed about the last 3 chapters in a 1000 page book. And most of that feeling is that I want to read the next book now, not in 5 years. Of course, it is the 5th book in a series and not one you can pick up blindly. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the entire series.

Now, about Treasure Island. (Spoilers, people. Spoilers)

I enjoyed it but it certainly shows itself as a dated (first published in 1883) children's book. It is the coming of age story of Jim Hawkins a boy (young man?) of indeterminate age. The basic story is that Jim Hawkins comes into possession of a treasure map. Along with some village elders he sets off on a journey across the Atlantic on a chartered ship to recover the treasure. The ship’s crew was previously the crew of the pirate whose treasure they seek and they mutiny once they arrive.

There's little in the way of surprises. Almost everything is predictable although that may come from having read it sometime in my childhood. We had a picture book version. Reading the Wikipedia article I see that there are 4 conflicts that the book is thought to address: Truthfulness and Loyalty, Temperance and Drunkenness, Religion and Irreligion, and Thrift and Profligacy.

The one that stuck out to me was the Truthfulness and Loyalty. Young Hawkins on multiple occasions disobeys orders and strikes out on his own. In each case it turns out beneficial to him and the crew that remains loyal to the Captain and the mission. He also learns in the book to keep his word. When he has a chance to escape the pirates after giving his word he wouldn't he chooses to remain a captive. Jim's story line is a long streak of good luck that is a bit unbelievable. I believe accepting this string of luck is a key to enjoying the book.

Jim is contrasted by Long John Silver, the one-legged pirate with a parrot on his shoulder. I believe he is the progenitor of the pirate stereotype. Silver fakes his original allegiance to the mission while stocking the crew with fellow mutineers. Over the course of the book he changes his allegiance multiple times before eventually making off with a sack of loot at the end of the story.

Whereas the story of truthfulness is straight forward the story of loyalty and the consequences is an ambiguous one. Silver despite his shiftiness seems to have profited. The consequences of his actions are left unsaid however.

As I said, it was an enjoyable story but certainly is written for a younger audience.

Next on line is Beautiful Piece by Joseph G. Peterson. It is a Chicago based story. I started it yesterday and a few dozen pages in I think I know what it is going on. I'll be curious to see if I'm correct.

Mmmmmm, Enchiladas!

2011-08-07T19:00:00.008-05:00

It's what's for dinner.

These are ground beef. I chopped a medium white onion, a couple cloves of garlic and tiny lil' hot pepper (its all I had). Through those in a pan with some olive oil and set them to sauteeing. I crumbled the beef over it, ~ 1.2 lbs, put in a tablespoon of chili powder and teaspoon of cumin. Some salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile I started another pan with a dash of olive oil and heated it. The shells (unfortunately flour shells because Wrigleyville = cracker) I tossed in for a about10 - 15 seconds per side. Really trying to loosen 'em up so they'll wrap without ripping.

Once the beef was cooked through I scooped a beef into the shells and sprinkled some cheese in. I used shredded sharp Cheddar and a 3-cheese Mexican blend from one or other of the major cheese companies. I wish I had Chihuahua for this but alas I had none in the house.

Beef and sprinkling of cheese in, I rolled them up and put them in a baking dish, seam side of the roll down. Once I had six in there, and I probably could have gone 8, I poured on 1/2 a can of store brand enchilada sauce. I saw some recipes to make it from scratch but lazy. On top of that I put the remainder of the ground beef, some diced onion, more cheese followed by the 2nd half of the enchilada sauce.

All that went in to a 350° preheated oven for 20 minutes. I took half a tomato diced it for a side dish.

They were quite tasty and the process isn't all that hard. Next time I'll probably go with homemade sauce. I didn't measure the cheese used. I suspect I was low compared to normal. That served me just fine. The plate shows three enchiladas. That proved not possible. I ate two. I know what lunch is going to be a couple times this week. You light eaters might want to think about splitting the 2nd enchilada with someone.

Refried Bean?

2011-08-05T08:44:00.002-05:00

Rowan Atkinson crashed his $1M+ car yesterday. Initial reports had him just barely escaping a fiery death. Not true. The car didn't burn.

The picture in the first article puts me in mind of an older gentleman I knew when I worked at a car dealership in college. He had a twin turbo 300ZX. Standard that car had 300 ponies and some massive turbo lag. The car wasn't enough for his midlife crisis so he had an aftermarket tuner rework the exhaust and the engine management computer. Allegedly the mods added another 100 ponies. In the three years I worked there he was in at least once a year having body work done. He couldn't keep it on the road.

I got to test drive it after one repair. We had to make sure it drove straight and handled properly. Dear FSM that car was FAST!

I Want This On A T-Shirt

2011-08-04T21:46:00.000-05:00

via

Bean Counting

2011-08-04T14:48:00.000-05:00

Most every day I read the web site JALOPNIK.COM. It's a Gawker owned site focused on automobile culture. A daily feature is the "Nice Price Or Crack Pipe" where they feature a car for sale and ask their readers to determine if it is a good buy or not.

Today's car is a 1975 Chevy Cosworth Vega. (CRAAAAAAACKKKK PIPE!) I wouldn't expect to find anything interesting about his car but the write ups usually have one or two good jokes buried in them. What I came across was this:

The Vega, designed at the end of the sixties, was the beneficiary of some radical thinking for the time, some of which didn't exactly pan out. The engine was a sand-cast aluminum block with cast iron head, and even the way it got to dealers was rethought as the cars travelled via special rail car stacked side by side vertically to allow more cars per car. Unfortunately, the SOHC alloy 2.3-litre suffered from an inadequate capacity cooling system, as well as under-spec'd valve guides causing the early cars to overheat and smoke like crazy. The Nose-down delivery system didn't take into account potential transmission and final drive leaks and too many cars suffered depleted drivetrain components upon reaching the dealer. Finally, the early Vega was to rust as Kat Von D is today to skin art.

I had never heard of this before. This seems like the anecdote told in a class to teach a lesson. It seems unbelievable. Generally what is written on Jalopnik is pretty accurate but could this be a an urban legend?

Nope.

via

According to wiki these Vert-A-Pac carriers could haul 30 cars to the normal cars 18. So GM was getting a 40% savings on shipping costs. And yes I see that they made an attempt to deal with fluid leaks but with obviously minimal success.

I can just picture the engineer in the back of a conference room dancing around saying "But... But... But... But..." as the executive decision makers nod sagely at the accounting departments presentation.

A Dance With Dragons: A Rant

2011-08-03T11:08:00.002-05:00

There are no direct spoilers about A Dance With Dragons here. I hint at some things in general terms. There are some spoilers here for previous books so beware.

Finished.

"Fuck you, Martin!"

I mean, dammit man, I've defended you and supported your vision of your story forever.

When people put down the book after the RW in Storm of Swords I said, "No, stay with it. It's part of the story arch. Yes bad things happen but that's the way of life." I said, "You are feeling the emotional tug of the book. I was heart broken too. The author is doing his job superbly!"

When people said Feast For Crows jumped the shark I stepped up to the plate. "This book wasn't part of the original plan. The story's expanded. Yes, it doesn't flow as well as it should but it'll get better when he gets back on track. Stay with it. Stay with it."

When others say your books never go any where. That nothing is ever resolved. I tell them to be patient. "The series has a long story arch. You have to let the author take you on the journey through his vision."

When one person told me that there wasn't a single character in the book he could empathize with I told him to check into the morgue.

Then you give me this book. Fuck you.

Sure, as some have complained, you haven't completed the total story arch. You've always finished the small story though. The characters finished a small part of their journey and began the next.

In A Game Of Thrones

Robb captured the Kingslayer and was named King of The North. Now we move on to war.
Dany lost Khal Drogo and her Khalasar but her dragons were born and she move.

In A Storm of Swords

Jon defended the wall and was named Lord Commander. Then he had to learn to rule
Tyrion was allowed to escape and slayed his father. Then he was off to the east.

In A Feast For Crows

Jamie takes Riverrun and decided to allow Cersei to fend for herself

Even in Dance With Dragons you complete the Dany arch and she is starting a new path. We're not sure what that path is but she's on it. Arya you didn't complete but we see the forward movement.

But you ended the damn book - a BOOK - with cliffhangers! We have one battle starting, another army buried in snow, and an attempted murder in progress.

This is not a daytime soap opera. Not even a weekly TV drama where we'll learn a resolution with in the week. This is a book! And you take 5 years between books. Which I've also accepted.

I'm pissed that you failed to complete the small stories in this book. And this murder-in-fucking-progress? I'm not mad at the who. I'm not. S/he might deserve it. It feels forced. You are writing books in the middle of a story arch you had not originally planned to write. The story grew in the telling. I get that. However, you're known for killing off major characters. This murder feels like you dropped it in there to just keep up the rep.

Habits

2011-07-28T15:50:00.001-05:00

I wrote out a couple checks just now. I entered the date, "07/28/1971." Writing that date with the that year is just complete habit.

Birthdays

2011-07-28T12:40:00.000-05:00

On 12/4 of last year this little monster invaded my home.

He was found by a friend of a friend around Halloween. She couldn't keep him because her daughter was allergic to cats It was estimated he was about 3 months old then. When he arrived Ozzie brought his own bed.

But soon found new places to sleep.

Since that time he's become an integral part of my life. He helps in the kitchen

the laundry room

Hmm. That last one might be another napping moment. Ozzie even does bicycle maintenance.

As I said, he was about 3 months old at the end of October 2010. That would mean he was born near the end of July 2010. What a coincidence? So was I. It has been decreed that Ozzie and I share a birthday.

Happy Birthday, Ozzie!

It's What's For Dinner

2011-07-27T22:11:00.000-05:00

We start on Saturday with a pork loin and some veggies. Marinated the pork loin in a jerk flavored marinade for several hours. I then placed it in a baking pan with chopped carrots, turnips, and onion halves. I topped the pork with the green stems from the onions.

I placed that in the oven preheated to 375 degrees. I couldn't tell you how long it cooked now. Probably 40 minutes or so. The important thing is to have a meat thermometer. Stop when the thick part of the pork is medium to medium rare. Remember, the meat will continue to cook for a few minutes after you pull it.

The end product.

I sliced off a couple pieces, spooned some veggies and had with some chianti. It was a good meal but I would use a different marinade next time. I've used it on the grill before but not the oven. It completely over powered the veggies and was even very strong on the meat. Still a good meal though.

Tonight I had a hankering for Mexican but I still had an end of the loin left. So I shredded it and made nachos with some lettuce, half a tomato, a green onion and far too much delicious, delicious cheese.

MIA

2011-07-27T14:53:00.000-05:00

Damn, but I haven't been around much, have I? It's been a tough summer. Work has been crazy busy until it all came to a screeching halt last week. Eight months of work by 4 people stopped - and possibly to be canceled - to implement a change that took 4 hours. And then work got worse. Some more details in a bit.

Softball has been a bit depressing. We lost in the championships of the Spring Season and have gone oh-for-5 since. Same team. Same league. Just can't steal a win.

Then politics. Dear FSM the politics. We're in a stalled car on the railroad tracks and the driver won't unlock the doors or even try the ignition figuring he'll just let the train barreling down on us move us along. It doesn't bear thinking about.

And tomorrow I get older. In fact, I flip the first number over. Although I do believe in "I'm a day older than I was yesterday" I'd be lying if I said this one wasn't bothering me a bit.

So, yeah, I've been a bit down and a lot busy. Part of me just wants to make like Ozzie and bury my head in a bag.

Of course, he's having fun doing this. And that's what I have to start doing again. Having fun.

Happy Discoveryday, Neptune

2011-07-11T15:58:00.002-05:00

Man, does time ever fly when you're having fun. Can you believe it's been one whole year since we discovered Neptune? Me either. It seems like it was just last month that Englishman John Adams and Frenchman Urbain Le Verrier were coming forth with their calculations

Neptune's discovery marked a turning point in astronomy. Its existence was revealed, not through a serendipitous observation by an astronomer but by the careful work of mathematicians. They calculated that perturbations in the orbit of Uranus, then thought to be the sun's most distant planet, could only be explained by the existence of another, even remoter world whose gravity was affecting Uranus's path.

and William Lassell started scanning the skies.

Jeter

2011-07-08T12:46:00.002-05:00

Dear FSM his 3,000th hit can't come soon enough. Sure, we'll have to listen to a few more weeks of fluffing and it'll get mentioned for the rest of the year. That's inevitable. The hell of it is I kind of like and respect Jeter. All the hype and sensation surrounding the team is what is off putting. So, can we stop with this kind of shit please, Jeter's career sparks debate: Is he greatest Yankee of all time?

No!

No!

and No!

Happy Independence Day

2011-07-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

Just before the suburbs lit up

Standing Tall

2011-06-29T21:24:00.000-05:00

Ozzie is all proud of himself. He's had his first kill. He flushed a flying beetle from under his scratching pad. The thing took to the air but was too slow. He took it while on the wing.

After I removed the carcass he searched around for a while then got on top of the speaker to survey his domain.

Chicago To Host G8 Summit Next Year

2011-06-22T14:03:00.001-05:00

This should be fun.

Protecting Your Safety

2011-06-22T08:50:00.002-05:00

Sales Sticker for Fiat 500

Back in the 1970s the big, bad government was proposing new regulations for automobiles. The Big Three, as always, opposed the new regs.

They considered the new safety regulation a joke. The considered the regulation to be useless. Or worse, more dangerous than not.

What was this new, dangerous big, bad government intervention? Air bags. One for the driver and one for the passenger. Now we have compact cars with 10 of them. The sticker for the Fiat 500 above lists 7 air bags.

In 1980 (PDF), before a decade before air bags started to become standard, there were 3.3 deaths per 100MM miles driven. In 2008 the rate was 1.3.

To be sure, air bags are not the only thing to contribute to the decreased death rate. Crumple zones, also a government mandate, make cars safer. Seat belt laws - yep, government again - have increased the use of seat belts and made occupants safer. Stricter DUI laws and tougher enforcement - do I have to say it? - have made the roads safer.

But remember, the free market solves everything. Every. Thing.

The City From The Lake

2011-06-21T09:37:00.002-05:00

It's hard to get good shots on a rocking boat. It's even harder at night. These are the ones that turned out OK last Friday.

While still tied up at the pier.

From The Water

We were moored in open water here. A little fuzzy but I like the colors. Viewed small the fuzziness isn't as noticeable.

First Time

2011-06-20T23:18:00.001-05:00

DSC_1582
Originally uploaded by chicagoschraders

First time on a sail boat. It almost looks like I know what I'm doing.

Almost.

Testarossa

2011-06-16T22:46:00.000-05:00

Random car sighting.

I know these were not the best cars Ferrari ever produced. But if memory serves they were the fastest production car in the world when they were introduced and I always loved them. When Sonny Crocket got a white one on Miami Vice I was sold.

That's How You Do It!

2011-06-16T14:14:00.001-05:00

When the Bulls won their championships I remember some pretty good rioting in Chicago. A couple police cars were flipped on Division Street. We had a few fires, some looting, and some good old fashion chaos.

I was so disappointed last year. A Stanley Cup Championship and, well, this is pretty fucking lame. They couldn't even flip into the street for FSM's sake.

I'm not sure what to think of Vancouver going the

A Reasoned Change Of Heart

2011-06-10T11:05:00.002-05:00

I thought the 5 cells in my brain that acutally cared were rooting for Dallas in the NBA finals. No more.

If the Heat lose this series, the country will go into a giant spasm of moral preening the likes of which we haven't seen since Cokie Roberts had to tell her kid about Bill Clinton's dick. It's going to be awful. We're going to turn LeBron into a national sermon on the wages of narcissism. We're going to edit these finals into a highlight reel of Humility dunking all over Ego. We're going to be a country of Joe Liebermans, all freaking summer long.

Baseball List of Fours

2011-06-09T08:48:00.001-05:00

My temporary roommate brought these questions back from a recent road trip. They're quite difficult baseball trivia but I thought they were pretty cool.

QUESTIONS:

What 4 active MBL team managers had 1,500 or more hits as a player? For example, Lou Piniella had 1,705 hits as a player. Alas, Sweet Lou is retired and does not make the list.
Name the 4 Cincinnati Reds players, past or present, that have had 35 home runs and 35 doubles in the same season.
Name the 4 current players who are their current team's all time hit leader.

ANSWERS:

The trick here is that there was a lot of turn over in the past season and a half.
- Don Mattingly, LA Dodgers, 2,153 hits
- Dusty Baker, Cincinnati Reds, 1,981 hits
- Ozzie Guillen, Chicago White Sox, 1,764
- Kirk Gibson, Arizona Diamondbacks, 1,553
This one has a couple surprising answers. How did Bench and Dunn leg out that many doubles?
- Frank Robinson, 1962, 51 DBLs, 39 HRs
- Johnny Bench, 1970, 35 DBLs, 45 HRs
- Adam Dunn, 2005, 35 DBLs, 40 HRs
- Joey Votto, 2010, 36 DBLs, 37 HRs
Obviously these are current players so the hits totals are increasing. A note here, these numbers reflect a team's entire history. Chipper Jones leads the Atlanta Braves but when you trace team history back through Milwaukee Hammerin' Hank wins by a blowout. Similarly, Ryan Zimmerman leads the Washington Nationals but since they were once the Montreal Expos he doesn't even make the top 5.

Derel Jeter, NYY, 2,988+ hits
Ichiro Suzuki, SEA, 2,310+ hits
Tedd Helton, COL, 2,287+ hits
Michael Young, TEX, 1,923+ hits

Wiiiiipppeee Out

2011-06-07T09:02:00.001-05:00

pic via

Dear, FSM, I swear it is just crazier out on the bike path than any other time in my memory.

Last night I was on the homeward leg of a post-work ride. I was northbound at Ohio and the LSD on ramp, right next to Lake Point Towers, waiting for the green light. There were a couple cyclists on either side of me and about 5 coming towards us southbound.

I pushed off just before the light went green to get some breathing room. The southbound cyclists clear me as I cross the tiny median and pedal through the right turn lane that leads to LSD. That's when I see them.

Two hipsters are coming down hill to the intersection. They're moving var too fast for conditions. The dude's in the lead and his line is good. The girl is taking a wider arc. I'm under load and don't have enough speed to be maneuverable yet. All the same I try to shift right.

It all happens in a fraction of a second. I'm hit. It was just my duffel bag. I'm still upright! Then I hear the sickening sound of steel and aluminum bouncing along the black top.

I turn around and she's laid out on the medium. The dude, her boyfriend, is just turning around to get back to her. He's back to her before I get turned around to check on her. She's beat up. She must have gone over the handle bars in a Supermanesque dive. Both her forearms are road burned from elbows to wrists. Her knees had seen better days. But she's standing and moving and says she's OK. Considering she didn't have a brain bucket on she was lucky not to have cracked her noggin open. The two continued on. Hopefully at a more reasonable pace.

I've gone down before. It hurts. I guarantee she's in considerable pain this morning. I hope she's truly OK and has access to some good pain meds.

Broadcaster Bob

2011-06-06T14:14:00.002-05:00

While on the topic of the Cubs/Cards series, Cubs broadcaster Bob Brenly made the news by calling out the Cubs for lackluster performance and effort yesterday. “This has been, once again, another dead-ass team," is the quote from the article.

It wasn't the only time he called out the Cubs performance. Watching the game on Sunday a Cardinals hitter popped up a ball that landed in the third baseline dugout. Cubs' third baseman Aramis Ramirez trotted over - it was faster than a mosey but definitely less than a run - and watched it fall into the dugout. It appears the ball was reachable by leaning over the railing a bit.

I don't have a transcript but either Len Kasper or Bob made the comment that Ramirez ran about half speed over to the dugout and maybe could have made a play. Bob said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "We don't really know what full speed for Ramirez is since he's never shown it to us."

Hope.

2011-06-06T14:05:00.000-05:00

A weekend series against the hapless Cubs does not a season or turnaround make, but...dot.dot..

Walk off home runs in extra innings on Saturday and Sunday have me hopeful that the greatest player in baseball is coming out of a two month slump.

Thanks to the efforts of Matt Holiday and, surprisingly, Lance Berkman the Cardinals have the most wins and most runs scored in baseball.

If those two can keep up their production (both are down with injuries) and Pujols breaks out of his season long slump we may just have a chance at the playoffs. A chance I thought we lost when Adam Wainwright went down for the season in Spring Training.

Drafting

2011-06-01T09:34:00.002-05:00

My photo: Lances riding in the Canary Islands

Honestly, I really don't mind when a fellow cyclist falls in behind me to catch a draft. I really don't. I understand that a stiff head wind can be punishing to ride into. And I'm sure my 6' 3", 235 lb frame provides an effective wind break. Please, though, have the courtesy to let the me know you're there.

Last night on a ride to the north end of the lake trail I came around a curve and there was a novice roller blader sprawled in the path. Two immediate thoughts: is he OK and am I clear to go around him. I haven't been riding much. I'm not as fast as I used to be and I get passed.

I checked over my shoulder and there was a white ghost directly behind me. Shit! Is he passing? Check again. No, he's sitting right on my ass. No more time to worry about the health of the roller blader, I zoom around him with my ghost in tow. The ghost stayed there for another half mile until we reached the end of the trail. I turned around and he rode on north. He thanked me for the ride at least.

How long had he been there? I have no idea. It didn't look like anyone I had passed. So he had caught up to me and started drafting me. He could have caught me seconds before the roller blader or he could have been there for miles. I don't have a clue. When you don't know someone is that close to you it is dangerous.

photo via here

The simplest thing to do is just announce you are there. A simple "hopping on" or "drafting" or "on your six" works just fine. And it can be loud out there with wind rushing past your ears and some people have headphones in. Make sure you get an acknowledgement.

Wilson Valdez (1-0)

2011-05-26T10:11:00.001-05:00

I haven't put up many baseball posts this year but last night we really had something of note take place. The Phillies and Reds effectively played a double header when they went 19 innings. As oft happens in games of this length one team or the other runs out of pitchers. Last night it was the Phillies.

In comes back up second baseman Wilson Valdez.

They asked me if I could pitch. I said, 'Yeah, why not?' ... I was trying to throw a strike. That's the only thing.

He plunked Scott Rolen but he also closed out the inning for the win.

The hilarious part for me:

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard put his mitt over his face to hide his smile when Valdez shook off his catcher.

That's awesome!

Go Away And Die Quietly

2011-05-26T09:27:00.002-05:00

We've got a Meet The Politician twofer today.

First up, Rep. Rob Woodall (R - I've Got Mine).

Rep Rob was holding a townhall in his home district and defending his vote on the Paul Ryan "Let's Eliminate Medicare" Budget. At least one resident disagreed with Rep Rob's policy stance.

A Woodall constituent raised a practical obstacle to obtaining coverage in the private market within the confines of an employer-based health insurance system: What happens when you retire?
"The private corporation that I retired from does not give medical benefits to retirees," the woman told the congressman in video captured a local Patch reporter in Dacula, Ga.

"Hear yourself, ma'am. Hear yourself," Woodall told the woman. "You want the government to take care of you, because your employer decided not to take care of you. My question is, 'When do I decide I'm going to take care of me?'"

Second up we have everyone's favorite #2 man, Rep. Eric Cantor (R - storms, plagues and pestilence). Eric's caring soul is more than willing to come up with money to help the survivors in Joplin, MO, just so long as we make cuts elsewhere to pay for it. Maybe the residents of Joplin can voluntarily give up their medicare to get some food and water.

“if there is support for a supplemental , it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental.”

Despite both men being uncaring pricks out to protect the good fortune of rich white men that ~~pay their salaries~~ donate to their campaigns, it is almost refreshing to see such honesty.

Create / Destroy

2011-05-22T11:41:00.000-05:00

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That Time of Year Again

2011-05-19T16:29:00.000-05:00

Despite the weather it is Spring and that means Farmers Markets. This past Saturday was the first week we collected our weekly share from Growing Home at Green City Farmers Market.

We've got asparagus, arugula, spinach, bok choy, carrots, lettuce, rhubarb, chives, and mint. What I have pictured there is the full haul. I got half of that. The bok choy is gone. The lettuce, green onions, spinach, and carrots are about half gone.

R.I.P., The Killer

2011-05-17T15:18:00.000-05:00

Harmon Clayton Killebrew
1936 - 2011

At Target Field, where the video board showed a picture of Killebrew, members of the Twins' ground crew slowly lifted home plate and slipped under it a plastic-encased, black-and-white photo of Killebrew winding up for a swing. The picture, believed to be from the 1960s, will stay beneath the plate the rest of the season.

I haven't posted any baseball this season or really much of anything. Life and especially work has been excessively busy.

One of the greats has left us. This affable man earned his nickname with his bat. Even after the home run era of the 90s and 00s the 11 time All-Star sits at #11 on the all time home run list.

Boogeymen and Monsters Under The Bed

2011-05-10T13:21:00.000-05:00

Far be it from me to give advice to in an arena I have no experience in (you may laugh) and have very little interest in gaining such experience, but what he said.

I have to wonder how it was that I managed to survive my childhood. Not just me either, but my brothers and all the kids I knew.

The typical summer day would see us run outside early in the morning. We’d find our way home for lunch and then disappear again. We hiked through woods, and fields. We caught snakes and used them to terrorized girls who dared follow us. We were outside the view of any parent for much of the time. And, in a utopia without cell phones, our parents couldn’t call us every 15 minutes or use a GPS system to track our moves.

If they wanted to reach us they had to stand on the front porch and call out our names. And, if we felt like it, we answered. But, truth be told, we often heard them and didn’t answer

...

Here’s the thing: Crimes against children have been declining. But the safer we get the more paranoid we, as a society become. From 1990 to now substantiated cases of child sexual abuse has dropped in half. Cases of physical abuse have dropped in half as well. Assaults on teens have also dropped by about 50%. In some states the declines were closer to 80-90%. (Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Washington)

But as kids have become safer parents have become more paranoid, a paranoia that politicians are always ready to exploit. In the world of politics the best problems to address are the imaginary ones, you always succeed at slaying monsters that don’t exist.

This goes to something I've mentioned before. Criminal activity is down and has been declining for years. CLS's comment about slaying monsters (highlighted) really rings true to me.

Provenance Of Office Food

2011-05-06T15:33:00.002-05:00

I'm not here to discuss the banana guacamole you had stolen out of the office refrigerator. I'm not even here to discuss the lunatic in the next cube that has a case of Tab on her desk with a post it note reading "30¢". Because, yeah, somebody is going to buy a can of Tab from this woman.

No what I want to consider is the obviously free food that is left out. I just walked past our office kitchenette and there was a tray of brownies sitting there. A tray of very dried out, crumbling brownies which is a capital crime. At least it should be.

It is commonly known that it is open season on any food left on this counter. Even if this was a tray of mouth-watering, gooey, dark chocolate fudge brownies with sprinkles though I wouldn't touch them. My floor of the office has somewhere north of 100 residents. The food there is troubling. The same thing can be said about the random cookies and candy left on the printer table. FSM knows I'm no germaphobe. I'm not worried about cleanliness or disease although maybe I should be. I've eaten food stacked on window sills here when told about it.

That's the crux of the problem. The anonymity. Who's was it? Why did they only eat a 1/4 of their brownies? Not knowing where its from and/or why it is there makes it unappealing to me.

Right now, after writing this post, if I were to receive an email from Mike on the infrastructure team - or any somewhat random person - that the brownies were left over from a meeting I would be willing to go eat one. That is if they were gooey and and warm and yummy instead of all cracked and dried out.

Maybe we could just flog the person that dried out those poor, poor brownies instead of strapping them in the electric chair. I'll have to put a think on that.

Visit to the Torture Chamber

2011-05-05T18:17:00.000-05:00

Let's summarize.

Bite down on this 1" spacer between your molars.
Open wide.
Relax your lower lip.
Move your tounge
Close your eyes there's going to be a lot of water spraying.

And if too much water builds up in the back of your mouth just swallow. Ignore the fact that your entire mouth is numb, your laying on your back, and you have enough hardware in your mouth to choke Jenna Jameson.

Next time I have 3 cavities I may opt for amputation.

Happy Birthday, Dad

2011-05-05T08:20:00.000-05:00

Damn! I forgot to post this yesterday. I did get a chance to call and talk to him though. He was hoping to come back to Illinois for a visit this summer but his finances won't bear it. I think I'll try to see if I can fly him in over the Fall.

Dad and I on a trail near Mt. St. Helens

Happy Birthday, Dad.

bin Laden

2011-05-02T14:49:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to sort through my feelings about the assassination of Osama bin Laden. To say the least they are complicated. I couldn't even really organize them the way I wanted. I tried to create a narrative but I ended up ennumerate them instead.

1. I remember a conversation back in '02 or '03 with a friend of mine about the hunt for OBL. I said there was no way he would be taken alive. Even if he surrendered what 20-something soldier isn't going to put a bullet in this guy's head? And apparently, that was never going to happen. Giving what I know, if I had been the one sitting in the White House I would have given the same order. Note, as I'm typing this NPR reports that Obama issued a statement that bin Laden would have been taken alive if possible. I'm taking a few grains of salt.

2. Obama said in his speech last night that "justice has been done." No, it wasn't. I'm happy that bin Laden is no longer a threat to our nation. I'm happy that he no longer provides leadership - be it real or symbolic - to al Qaeda. Justice, however, is meted out via an unbiased legal system. Assassinating a man in his home is revenge.

3. Bin Laden was staying in a million dollar compound built 5 to 6 years ago in a city near a Pakistani military base. A city that is a favorite of retired military leaders. It seems unreasonable to say Pakistan did not know he was there. They seem to have looked the other way for years while he lived in their midst. And they seem to have looked the other way as our helicopters flew within miles of their military base and took him out. Again, on NPR as I'm typing, Pakistan is saying they believe OBL moved in only in the last week or two. Time to take a few more grains of salt.

4. While I'm happy bin Laden is gone, while I would have given the same order in Obama's place, I find the celebrations over the death of human being, no matter how vile and repugnant, somehow perverse, vile and repugnant itself.

5. Bin Laden's body was reportedly burried at sea and predictably is being criticized by some imams. Once killed this was a no win situation for the U.S. and I'd say they did the best thing. They burried the body within 24 hours as Islamic tradition dictates and they did so in a way that made sure his grave could not become a rallying / pilgrimage location.

6. Bin Laden's body was positively identified when DNA was matched against that of a deceased sister. The deceased sister's died of brain cancer in the Boston and the U.S. government has possession of the brain. As far as I know, DNA is DNA, so I have no idea why they kept her brain versus some other tissue sample.

7. The same people that say slaying bin Laden is a great victory for the U.S., in the same breath, say that the U.S. is still in danger and must remain on constant vigilance against terrorist violence. These two statements are at least partially contradictory. If bin Laden was such a grave threat his killing should reduce the terrorist threat to our nation. If it doesn't then his death isn't all that strategically important. See #2, justice vs. revenge.

8. Bin Laden's death will have only a minimal impact on the 2012 elections. Gas prices and the economy will the be the ultimate arbitors deciding winners and losers.

9. The stock market proves again that it is driven entirely on emotion, mostly fear. We kill a man who only released one amateur video tape a year threatening The West, but hasn't successfully followed through in 6 or 7 years, and has been hiding in a non-oil producing country for a decade, and oil prices plummet. Nevermind that the a civil war continues in a country that actually produces a large amount of oil.

10. I've heard claims that victims of U.S. torture gave up information that lead to finding bin Laden. I remain dubious of these unsourced claims. My taste buds are being overpowered by salt. Even if true it does not make torture right. Even if you accept the 'imminent threat' excuse for torture - and I don't - bin Laden was not about to launch an attack. We are better than what they are. Or we should be. And we should never, ever torture.

11. Another quote from Obama's speech, “Today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of the American people.” Talk about lowering expectation. A team of some of the most highly trained warriors the world has ever known killing a 54 year old on dialysis makes a nation great? Off the top of my head here are a some other ideas: the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, going to the moon, humanitarian relief after the Aceh earthquake and tsunami, rebuilding Eurpoe including Germany after WWII.

I've Been Every Where, Man.

2011-05-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I found a box of cookies on the kitchen floor. They had been on top of the refrigerator when I went to bed. There was only one explanation: Ninja Kitty

At that point I said, "He's gotten to every place in the condo he's going to get to." Oh, how wrong I was.

There was the top of the medicine cabinet.

And the clothes drier.

I'm making no more predictions about where he can and can't get to.

No Document In The World Can Make Obama White

2011-04-27T13:09:00.000-05:00

Texas birther bill

"What I've seen online, what they produced today, still says certificate of live birth across the top," she told me. And she's right.
But why isn't that just a nomenclature issue? Why does it matter?
"We want to see a 'birth certificate,'" Guthrie explained. "The one that we have that says 'birth certificate' is from Mombassa, Kenya, with his footprint on it. He has still not produced an American birth certificate."

Tasty Treats

2011-04-27T11:06:00.000-05:00

Looks good. A table of tasty pastries. Well, maybe not.

Also found in the May 2011 National Geographic.

Today's Stat

2011-04-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

From the May 2011 National Geographic. Human beings are expected to number 7 billion - that's 7,000,000,000 - in the near future. As a comparison the magazine offers estimates of the populations of various domesticated food animals.

Chickens: 52 billion
Ducks: 2.6 billion
Pigs: 1.3 billion
Rabbits: 1.1 billion
Turkeys: 633 million
Sheep: 518 million
Goats: 398 millioni
Cows: 293 million
Water Buffalo: 24 million
Camels: 1.7 million

Question: Who eats camels?

Taken Out Behind The Barn

2011-04-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

One year ago today, General Motors announced they would kill off the Pontica brand. Like every other automaker they made some good cars

and some bad cars.

By the 80s they were mostly making cars based on the platforms of other GM products. When they announced the end I thought GM was making a mistake. Not that they didn't need to reduce the number of brands. No, that made sense. I thought that Buick seemed the logical choice. It had a low sales volume and could easily be supplanted with Cadillac models. Shows what I know.

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The World Is Not An Ashtray

2011-04-26T09:01:00.000-05:00

I'm not a big supporter of using sin taxes to balance budgets. Something many governments seem to like. However, when I walk to the El after a Cubs home game and I see hundreds, if not thousands, of cigarette butts strewn on the sidewalks I think a solid $10 / pack tax bump is in order. Tax it until it bleeds and dies.