209 thoughts on “May 18, 2011: #3”

    2. Does it make me old if I have absolutely no idea who the kids are in the "the WGOM: A Minnesota Twins Weblog" banner? It looks like they're doing a pose for one of those TV show promo splashes, but that's the best I can do.

            2. I'm surprised Andrew didn't know who they were. I'm 48 and I know. Think Fox, certain California Zip Code, sideburns.

              2. I was 4 when the show started, 14 when it went off the air. I remember Mom watching it (or maybe Party of 5), but I never got into it.

                2. On the show, they're twins from Minnesota (and I didn't know why hj did this either, until the Milkmaid let me in on this detail).

              2. Hmph. I got the 90210 Twins thing right away.
                I hardly ever watched the show after the first episode, and I kept saying that Fox should end the show with a giant earthquake and southern California falling into the ocean*. (I imagined the series finale to be like I imagine that 2012 movie is.)

                *no offense, socal

                  1. I knew they were brother and sister; didn't realize they were twins.

                    btw, being a former SoCal resident, I know that it won't fall into the ocean; it's heading north and will be an island off the coast of Oakland someday.

                    1. Perhaps I only know it because I only watched the first episode. I doubt their twinness or 'Sotanness came up in any of the bits of other episodes I watched.

    2. A solid joke a couple of weeks ago, although it looks like they didn't get any useful CC info (and there has been no spike in reported cases). It seems like they got a lot of info, like email addresses, that most people give out freely.

      Like with a lot of hack jobs, it seems like the main goal was to annoy. Ugh.

      1. they got my junk mail address and a fake name from me. i was just annoyed that the network was down so long.

        1. My brother got Red-ringed on his XBOX for what I believe is the 2nd, if not 3rd, time. I teased him about when I was up home last weekend. He asked how it was getting my CC# stolen. I told him I wasn't dumb enough to give it to them and I had been playing video games the whole time. He was left with no comeback. Point - Me.

          1. I really don't think there's a good comeback to the ridiculous failure rate of the 360. It's been out there for four and a half years and the hardware is still so broken it almost shouldn't be on shelves.

            1. Bah, I've never had any problems (Fallout bugs excepted.) and I've had mine for a couple of years now.

              1. That's great, and I certainly don't want your luck to turn, but you're an anomaly. The original had a 70% failure rate within the first year and the slim model is around 40-50%. It's pretty appalling.

                1. I know, and I'm probably pushing my luck by even mentioning it.

                  In my defense, I had had a couple of beers at Red Robin prior to going to buy one.

                    1. I think if I had been a little less foggy, I might have opted for the PS3. Stupid beer. (it would have been even better beer if it had been an Old Chicago, though. But then, the burger wouldn't have been as good.)

                2. Where did you get those rates? The XBox failure rates certainly were awful, but nowhere near that awful.

                  1. From Microsoft, when they were asked to take the question at a videogame training I had to attend. They are absolutely that awful.

                    1. Googling "XBox 360 failure rates" won't even find numbers that high from the worst of the naysayers. The worst number I could find was 54.2%, and that wasn't a first year failure rate. Bottom line, if the first year failure rate was between 50-70% at any point during the 360's lifecycle it absolutely wouldn't have survived.

                    2. I don't know what to tell you. I feel like people from Microsoft wouldn't lie, at least not on this side of the argument.

                      As for whether it should have failed? With those numbers, I totally agree.

                      FWIW, I've always thought the numbers they quoted were high, even though I've been selling videogames since the 360 came out and I remember the enormous number of angry customers coming in to attempt an exchange.

            2. the Boy got red-ringed on his Xbox last year (an early edition, bought used). Repaired, then the subsequent optical drive failure. He has compensated by mostly playing downloaded games, I guess.

  3. Sharon Jones from the front row was phenomenal last night. I also was blown away by Black Joe Louis and the Honeybears.

    1. I had been hoping to see Black Joe Louis when they came to town, but it didn't work out. I've heard they're awesome.

  4. Anyone else have the new site blocked by work? The filter is usually pretty relaxed, but for some reason the WGOM has been blocked but the old SBG site never was. Wonder if it is the .org domain or something.

    3. I had the old site blocked by websense at the old job.
      Social/personal was the reason.

      1. Do you happen to know if websense blocks SSL sites? I might be able to create a self-signed cert for the WGOM that would allow you to securely browse and possibly avoid the filter. It would involve manually accepting the certificate, but that's it.

        1. I have no idea, and the new job doesn't have websense, so I'm happy to say that I can't test for you.

  5. Minor league day games: Rochester is at Gwinnett at 9:30 a.m. Central, and Beloit

    1. As I was saying, Beloit has a doubleheader at Wisconsin starting at noon Central.

      2. I shoulda taken the day off to attend a couple of games. Dang. Then again, there's rain in the area...

  6. I've just poisoned myself with the dan patrick show on fstejas. The unnecessary radio pause on TV isn't working for mr. patrick. Dan thinks the the woofs are crybabies for accusing the NBA of fixing the draft lottery. Even if it is fixed, mr. patrick says that the quality of the story is the most important thing for the overall health of the sport / league, ie Cleavland loses king james and is rewarded with the first pick = feel good story of the year. That's pretty rich.

    1. I'm guessing Dan Patrick wasn't a part of the debate club. An "even if its true" scenario seems an awfully silly way to argue that point.

    2. I'll listen to Patrick on the radio sometimes, but his show just really doesn't work on TV at all.

      1. The show seems to be a glorified frat house atmosphere mixed with some sports trivia. I've spent most of my life avoiding frat brau culture, mr. patrick's show will now be added to the list.

  7. I'm putting together a playlist of Country covers of Bob Dylan songs, and I thought I'd solicit feedback from anyone inclined to give it. I don't think there are many Country fans in the Nation, but musical tastes around here seem broad enough that there's a good chance someone can point me to something I'm forgetting. Here's what I have so far:

    The Band - When I Paint My Masterpiece
    Calexico & Jim James - Goin' to Acapulco
    Glen Campbell - If Not For You
    Buck Owens & His Buckaroos - Love Minus Zero/No Limit
    Willie Nelson - What Was It You Wanted
    Glen Campbell - I Don't Believe You (She Acts Live We've Never Met)
    Waylon Jennings - Girl from the North Country
    Kris Kristofferson & Willie Nelson - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
    Kitty Wells - Forever Young

    I've got five versions of "Don't Think Twice" to choose from (Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Stoneman Family, Bobby Bare, and Jerry Reed), along with three of "One Too Many Mornings" (Johnny Cash, The Band, and Jerry Jeff Walker), and five of "Blowin' in the Wind" (Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell, Chet Atkins, Bobby Bare, and Dave Dudley).

    Basically, if there's a cover you think should be included, I'd love to know about it.

    1. My problem is two-fold

      1) I don't listen to much country beyond Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
      2) I don't listen to any Dylan, so I wouldn't know if it was a cover anyway

      1. This link to the "50 Best Bob Dylan Covers of All Time" might be useful.

        Also, you can't do a Dylan cover playlist without including at least one Joan Baez take.

        1. You can't, except when it's a Country-centric cover playlist. I was reading Chronicles for a class and came across Dylan's thoughts on Hank Williams, Sr. which has inspired a look at Dylan as a writer of Country songs.

    2. i believe johnny cash did "girl from the north country" as well, off the top of my head. try mining the "i'm not there" soundtrack.

      1. You're right - Johnny Cash has at least two recordings of the song out there. One is with Joni Mitchell, who performed it with him on his show, and the other is with Dylan himself as the first track on Nashville Skyline.

        Good call on the soundtrack - there's a good cover of "Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)" on there by Calexico & Willie Nelson.

        1. i've only heard bits and pieces of it, but i liked what i heard (that "tombstone blues" is pretty sweet). i think tweedy's cover of "twist of fate" was kind of country-ish.

          also, i read "kitty wells" up there as "kelly wells" 😛

          1. I do that every time I see her name, so when I spot her CDs here at work, I'm like, I have a recording career? Why do I work here?

    4. Off the top of my head:

      Linda Ronstadt - I'll Be Your Baby tonight
      Jason and the Scorchers - Absolutely Sweet Marie
      Jerry Jeff Walker - Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
      Olivia Newton John - If Not for You

  8. sorry guys, i kind of let this get away from me. regarding the dad column, we’ve got 9 confirmed authors (bS, punman, cheaptoy, spooks, FT”hm”LT, rob, algonad, Co’C, and myself). i’d really like to get 3 more authors (SBG? freealonzo? one more pretty please?). that way with a bi-monthly feature, everyone’s contribution is limited to twice a year. also, how about we go with 2nd and 4th thursdays? i don’t believe that interferes with anything else.

    now, do we have a volunteer to go first?

    1. I actually had an idea when I was mowing the lawn on Sunday, so if no one else wants to, I can give it a go.

      1. i was thinking about that too, but since there are so many contributors, i thought semi-monthly (thanks, rhu_ru) would be better. if there's strong feelings about it, it's not a huge deal either way to me.

          1. Certainly not the preferred diction in most cases, but technically still correct.

    6. all right, rob, it's all you. plan on the 26th. anyone else have a specific date they'd like. i'm personally going to wait until after i am a father, so i might go a little later.

      free: how does july 21st sound?

    7. oh, by the way, does everything "father knowns best" is a crass enough title?

  9. Maybe I missed something while I was out a few weeks back - did we step away from the donation model? I just noticed it's not in the sidebar anymore and figured I missed an announcement.

      1. yup. for those wondering, if you donated before and were charged, we did receive your donations, and they will definitely go towards the site. i'm sorry we haven't been able to get some sort of recognition up yet. i've been looking into ways to get this going again, but it's kind of slipped away from me as well.

          1. that's one option to consider, yes. or, anyone know how to set up a non-profit? 😉

            1. The first step to setting up a non-profit is to appoint a group of people to oversee the non-profit. I would think that six people would be about right. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine who those six people should be. I am willing to serve, but I am not demanding to.

                    2. I'm sure we could make him the Honorary 7th member. I think it'd be funny to send him a ballot in the mail or something every time we had decisions to make.

                  2. I like "The Editors". That might be confusing to people that aren't aware about the "M" part of the site.

              2. Hmmm, 6 positions. Off the top of my head:

                SBG - Emeritus
                Sean - Webmaster
                brianS - most prolific commenter/used to bureaucracy
                3 at-large - selected from the Citizenry

                2. I wouldn't be offended if the Citizenry wanted to go another direction, but am willing to serve in any capacity the Nation sees fit (uh, within reason, of course).

                  This is a wonderful idea. I sincerely hope we can make it happen.

                3. hj also has been a mover-and-shaker behind the scenes of the new basement, correct? I'd nominate him.

                  1. Yes, treasurer, I forgot that. So we're down to just 1 at-large position. I think it's important to have at least one of those positions. Or would you move your position to at-large and then just be nominated for it?

                    1. per the suggestions below, let's open a new post to discussion. Perhaps we could get one of the lawyering citizens to lay out the necessities that must be accomplished in order to make the nonprofit thing happen??

                    1. We should probably have a fire marshall, too. I know where I can get a fire engine!

                4. I'll just say that it is certainly possible that the non-profit could do more things than run this website. I'm not saying it ever will, but it's possible.

                  1. I would be thrilled if we could turn SBG's little hobby into a broader force for good in the universe.

    2. Just my opinion, but this should really be its own post; and discussion should be primarily in nature. We should try to keep options open so those that want to speak up have a chance to avoid a land rush situation.

      1. Seconded. Please note, the above is just a little brainstorming on my part. I don't intend this in any way to be binding, nor do I wish to exclude anyone else's input. We really do need much more real discussion on this, not just my ramblings.

      3. I'll make a new post for this; it will be a protected post meaning only registered users will be able to see it.

          1. I can't view the site's permissions so I do not know who has access. Stick wants to take it off site anyway so that post probably won't even matter. Still in transition.

          2. It seems private posts are only visible to editors and admins, plus the author.

            1. It should be for any registered user. Check the setup permissions to see if there's a setting for that.

              1. That is the general default WordPress setting, but it can be changed. Sean what is the default author permission? The other option is we do a password protected post; and Registered users email someone for the password; or we use etherpad; but we still would have to pass around the log in info.

                1. I'd rather not use Etherpad, though I'm not privy to SBG's reasons to take it off-site. It'd be nice to have an easily archived record of the conversation, and on-site seems to me to be the best way of doing that.

                2. I don't follow. I haven't modified any of the roles or capabilities here, so whatever the default is still applies.

                  1. Its only for Admins and Editors. So we could still pass around a password to limit it somewhat.

                  2. I should clarify, this was my mistake, the default is for only admins and editors are able to view protected posts.

    3. Starting a new sub-thread to ensure everyone can see this.

      Due to SBG's wishes to keep this out of the public record, we need a way to keep this private but still allow those that have some interest in what happens able to discuss it. Then, the next step is figuring out where to discuss how to move the community forward.

      Options:

      • Email
        • Everyone can use it, but unwieldy for involved discussions.
      • EtherPad
        • Everyone can use it, but long-form discussion is limited.
      • Private post
        • Not everyone can use it right now, but I should be able to make it so that will allow me to specifically choose who can view private posts.
        • This may not be offsite enough.

      Any others?

  10. At work we have a week long trivia contest and it was my week to produce one. I did a Twins theme and was surprised at how many people thought it was really hard. Now I am guessing everyone here will get everything correct:

    Monday
    Who was the first Twin named to the Hall of Fame:

    Tony Oliva
    Harmon Killebrew
    Joe Cronin
    Calvin Griffith

    Bonus: What year?

    Tuesday
    Who was the last team the Twins beat in a playoff game?

    NY Yankees
    Oakland A’s
    California Angels
    Detroit Tigers

    Bonus: How Many Playoff games in a row have they lost since?

    Wednesday
    Kirby Puckett’s last at bat was a:

    Single
    Hit By Pitch
    Strikeout
    Home Run

    Thursday
    Who WASN’T named A.L. Rookie of the Year?

    Tony Oliva
    John Castino
    Joe Mauer
    Marty Cordova


    Friday
    Name all the Twins that have thrown a no-hitter (1 point each)

    Bonus: The Twins were the first A.L. team to play in a dome – True or False?

          1. Yeah, a playoff game may not necessarily equate to a postseason game. By its name, a postseason game can't be part of the regular season, but a playoff game could certainly be different in that respects. Unless the answer is Tigers, then the trivia question is worded poorly.

  11. The Redwings' radio guys just mentioned that every team in the organization that played won yesterday. The Twins, Redwings, Miracle, Rock Cats, and Snappers all won.

  12. I am really not a fan of writing cover letters (I'm looking for new employment in the case I don't get funding). I know CH expressed these same frustrations awhile back, but I feel like I'm being to boastful when I type out how awesome I am.

    1. Thankfully, Mrs. Hayes does not subscribe to the Minnesotan tradition of downplaying one's strengths, so she gets after me if she thinks I'm being overly modest. We disagree about what constitutes "overly modest," but I generally try to listen to her when it comes to applications and cover letters.

    2. It's especially annoying after writing five of them and getting zero responses. I would have taken "never in a million years" over nothing.

    3. Understandable, Magoo. There's a fine line between selling yourself and shoveling bovine scatology. But you need to tell a potential employer why you are a good fit for his/her organization. It's a buyer's market.

      1. It's a buyer's market.

        True that. The nice part about this is that I don't necessarily need a new job, but it looks like one that is better than what I have.

    4. The last question in the second interview I had for the job I applied for a couple weeks ago was "Sell us on why you're the best person for this job." I completely locked up and gave a rambly, poor answer. I know I'm a hard worker, a fast learner, and overall a good employee. It's just so tough to articulate that. I hate it just as much on cover letters.

      1. I'm with you there, hate that question. It seems to me its the interviewer's job to determine why I'm the best person for the job, since I don't have access to the other candidates to compare myself to.

        That said, a co-worker said he has a line he uses for those types of questions: "No one has ever regretted hiring me." Might apply here, as well as the "why should I hire you?" question.

        1. "No one has ever regretted hiring me."

          I don't think I could deliver that line with a straight face. Not that it's really a bad answer, it just makes me laugh for some reason.

      2. The worst is when an interview involves multiple interviews with different people. I always inevitably f-up with one person and nail the rest and its usually on a question like that, or on the "what are your weaknesses" question.

        1. Answers for weakness question:
          I'm too humble.
          I'm a perfectionist.
          I'm never satisfied.
          I'm too loyal.
          I care too much.

    1. Des Moines is having a thing from 3-7 downtown on Saturday. $15 for unlimited free samples. Of course my brother is running in the state track meet at 4.

    2. It was Craft Beer Week in Madison a couple of weeks ago. I certainly didn't overlook it.

      1. I was unable to get out to anything during that week, sadly. Sometimes it does suck living outside of town, and being old. (relatively, anyway.)

          1. I can't wait for the happymealtoy to reach that age when cheaptoy starts yelling "Turn that #$&(*# down. That's not music, it's just noise!"

            of course, with everyone plugged into earbuds these days, maybe that stage is an anachronism.

  14. I just noticed that the Twins play two 2-game series before interleague this week. crazy schedule.

      1. these are the 3rd and 4th 2 game series of the year as well. i think i questioned this in one of the game logs, but is there any particular reason for that?

        2. To give them as few off days as possible? The Twins' early season schedule suuuuucks. Way more away games, very few off days, large amounts of games against the AL East. Combined with the plague running through the clubhouse, and everyone's bats being replaced by overcooked noodles, I am somewhat less surprised they have as horrible a record as they do.

  15. bS - I had some of that Greek greenbean/tomato dish in a burrito with taco meat and frijoles refritos for lunch. It worked quite well. Your other bean recipe is currently on it's 8hr soak and will be for dinner tonight.

    1. and for my part, thanks again for that curry recipe. i see quite a few other recipes on that website i'm interested in trying out as well.

      1. awesome. We'll get this place turned into a food-and-booze-review website in no time!

  16. Punto's back on the DL. Not that we've effectively dealt with losing him, but at least it seems we got out when the gettin' out was good.

    1. The difference being that we were paying him $4 million a year, the Cards are paying him $750,000.

      2. Maybe if STL paid him more, he'd try harder to stay in the lineup. I've heard that Punto is great at playing through injury.

    2. I was watching him slide into home all gritty like the other day on highlights, and man, I tell you what. If Nick Punto gets a WS ring I'd feel a little ill.

    3. Eric Karros told me the other week that the Twins are struggling because Nick Punto is not on the team

      1. Morneau has been struggling because he hasn't been getting his Mt. Dew slush from Punto.

  17. NBA UPDATE Dirk Nowitzki scored 48 points last night on 15 shots, none of them from beyond the arc. Think if it! More than 3 points a shot! His line: 12-15 0-0 24-24(!) 48. That's the most free throws made without a miss in the history of the NBA, playoffs or regular season. It's the highest point total for a player hitting >= 80% of his field goals.

    The NBA playoffs have been off the charts this year. Maybe the best, most wide open playoffs, ever. Tonight, more of the same: Miami, down 1-0, is back in Chicago for game 2.

    1. Maybe I wasn't watching close enough, but I felt that the refs got way, way too whistle happy in the 3rd last night. They ground the game to a screeching halt with a foul on nearly every possession. dirk shot 13 free throws that quarter alone.

  18. WGOM Header Submission

    People mentioned they wanted to keep the Harmon tribute picture up for the rest of the year, so I made this mock-up from the Harmon picture and CH's circle header. Now the Creative Commons license from the original Harmon picture doesn't allow derivative works, so this won't be the final version. Instead, think of this as a template/guideline. Does anyone think they know enough to do this up for us so we don't violate the original artists rights, that is make our own #3 with pinstripes? Also, getting the sizing correct.

    1. the width isn't so important, but i've been using 150px for height as a standard. personally, kind of like the twins, i wouldn't mind just have a small spot in the header with that "3" graphic displayed. like maybe on the right side of the "The WGOM" space above the headers. i like that "3" as is, and that way we won't have to worry about any modification coming into play.

        1. graphic on the left of the title, eh? i swear i've seen that somewhere before...

  19. for the astronomically inclined

    Astronomers said Wednesday that space is littered with hundreds of billions of planets that have been ejected from the planetary systems that gave them birth and either are going their own lonely ways or are only distantly bound to stars at least as 10 times as far away as the Sun is from the Earth.

    There are two Jupiter-mass planets for each of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, according to measurements and calculations undertaken by an international group of astronomers led by Takahiro Sumi, of Osaka University in Japan, and reported in the journal Nature.

    I wonder what, if anything, this has to say about the "need" for "dark matter" for cosmological theories?? Ubes??

    1. if i'm not mistaken, which is very likely given my tenuous grasp on astronomy, i believe that the “need” dark matter fills would still be much greater than the amount of mass these orphan planets could account for.

      1. So, I went and looked at the wikipedia entry on dark matter, which suggests that there must be about 5 times as much dark matter as "regular" matter. Jupiter's mass is about 0.1 percent that of the sun. At two per star, that's roughly an 0.2 percent increase in "regular" matter at best. I guess that pretty much answers my question.

        1. Objection, asked and answered! 🙂 You're right, those planets aren't enough to account for the "missing mass" problem. It's not my area of expertise, but it's a pretty incredible topic. Unless our theory of gravity on that scale is incorrect (this seems unlikely, but possible), as far as I understand it, it's pretty straightforward to show that there's not enough mass to account for the motion observed in the universe. So it's this huge open problem, but I don't think there's a lot of funding in it, which is too bad.

          1. ?? There's a whole lot of dark matter / dark energy projects going on. It's astronomy's #1 project (besides finding Earth-sized extrasolar planets)

            1. as mentioned above, i'm definitely not an expert, but i nerd out over astronomy more than anything. and yes, the fact that a very large majority of the mass of the known universe is completely unknown to us (lest our theories be wrong, yes) is indeed fascinating.

              on the flip side, i'm all for as much exploration and research into all things extraterrestrial, but i think we need to focus a lot more on our oceans first, as they're much closer to home, and more relevant to "short term" problems. that, and there's crap in the oceans that's just as unexplained and weird as outer space.

              1. there's crap in the oceans that's just as unexplained and weird as outer space.
                Like underwater magnets. How do they work?

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