I've entered the rewriting phase of this screenplay, which is sorta...like...alright, there's nothing I like less than rewrites.
157 thoughts on “April 26, 2011: Rewrite”
Carmelo Anthony, GM of the Knicks:
Anthony's stance on D'Antoni could prove to be an important one, because he is planning to be heavily involved in personnel decisions this summer. He first mentioned that idea on Sunday, and he reiterated it Monday, saying that since he and Amar'e Stoudemire are the "faces of the organization," they should play key roles in deciding its direction.
"Why not? I'm gonna be the guy they have to go out there and play with," Anthony said. "So why not have some input in who we want?"
That does free up D'Antoni to GM the Celtics instead.
I really feel that Isaiah Thomas should coach this team next year. That would please me greatly.
I heard on SportsCenter this morning that Jared Weaver has the most win before April 26th in baseball history. Thats cool and all, but for about 100 years they didnt start playing until late April and for about 50 more they started around half way through the month
Did I dream that? Lakers forward Lamar Odom takes time during Game 2 to quickly smooch fiancée reality-star Khloe Kardashian, only to realize it's actually Blazers forward Luke Babbitt.
Fiancee! They've been married for a year and a half. Someone get this blogger an editor!
OK, I read enough of the article to get to that part you quoted. I can't believe you where still paying close enough attention to catch that error.
What's crazy is that Reilly looks down his considerable nose at Bill Simmons. Yeah, the Sports Guy can be a little, um, too much sometimes, but his piece about the Kings situation in particular and the NBA in general is terrific. Contrast that with the drivel coming out of Reilly these days.
I like a lot of Simmons' stuff, but I can't stand listening to him talk. Reilly, well, I'd rather not read or listen to him.
I like to read Simmons on the NBA not because I think he's particularly expert about the league (or anything), but because his enthusiasm for the sport really comes through in his writing. I read Simmons on the NBA, and it makes me want to go watch basketball, even though I'm not really a basketball guy.
I am going to be pretty tied up today, can someone who is has more time than me tear this article apart. Seriously, let's not lose our cool about attendance after one month. And especially cold, snowy, rainy, lousy month. I will be back tomorrow to review the work done on this.
Also, I hate to do this two weeks in a row but can someone pinch hit for me tonight. I promise I will write a game log next week. I promise.
Thanking you in advance,
The Hitman.
tear this article apart. Seriously, let's not lose our cool about attendance after one month. And especially cold, snowy, rainy, lousy month.
I think you did a pretty good job of refuting most of his argument. Did you see the Toronto numbers on there? Sure, the Dodgers got issues, but I don't think that what they are going through is representative of the rest of the league.
I believe this is also one of the most severe April's for weather in a long time, if I am not mistaken. The local meteorologist was saying something about a record number of severe weather reports across the country in April.
My favorite part, though, was this:
At this juncture last season, the Dodgers were averaging more fans per game than the Yankees. Now they’re behind the Twins.
WTF? The Twins had the 6th highest attendance last year and are currently 4th this year. That was just a weird dig on the Twins for reasons I can't comprehend.
(Full disclosure, I very much dislike Passan.)
I generally think Passan is good. As far as national baseball writers go, I can't think of anyone considerably better than him outside of Posnanski. (If there's some awful writing out there, I could be persuaded that he's a hack.)
Agreed completely here. I frequently enjoy Passan's writing.
i gotcha covered, hitman.
It doesn't help that there are no new stadiums opening either. The Twins' big bump in sales last year helped keep the overall numbers from being too bad, but the Twins can't go up this year.
Not sure what you have written, but I did a quick import of the numbers into Excel. Vital stats:
First off, the -500/game number is bogus, IMO. That's doing a weighted average over all the teams, so that teams who have had more home games count more towards the average. If you think the Royals' attendance should count for twice the Twins' attendance so far, then the weighted average is the right way to go. If instead you are rational and believe that all teams should be weighted equally, the difference is -338 per game.
The standard deviation of bb-ref's "DiffPerGame" (difference in attendance per game for each team) is 4,130. Divide that by the square root of 30 to get the standard deviation of the sample mean, and you get about 750.
So basically, the difference in attendance so far is more accurately stated as -338 per game +/- 750. Even using the figure of -500, it's easily within the statistical noise this early in the season.
But, I suppose Mr. Passan can feel free to worry about this attendance "problem" in a league that can draw 9M+ fans in less than a month.
Passan just got pwned by ubes. Nice work tearing that completely to pieces.
Citizenry: I don't know whether he would want it advertised here or not just yet, so I'll just say go to the WGOM facebook page. I've shared some very sad news about one of our own.
:'(
Sent a request to join, been meaning to get around to it for a while.
I should probably do the same...
i didnt know about a facebook group
[slips the sekret password to dw]
There wasn't any intention to keep it a sekret, nor any significant effort to advertise it. Very. Slow. Growth. (until the recent cataclysm, anyway)
It's still only half-baked.
While sitting in meetings this morning I was WONDERING why all the new requests were popping up today. Good to see WGOM going social, although besides the June event there isn't a whole lot going on there yet. Not that it was meant to replace here.
btw, feel free to invite yourselves to the ballgame event. I can't keep up.
Thanks, Doc. I appreciate care with which you shared this news. I've been pretty busy, first taking care of my dad, stepmom, and younger siblings, then dealing with arrangements. His passing is well known at this point, and while I had something more personal to say on the matter, for now I'm so busy that I have to set it aside. Pops Hayes (something I never called him, but seemed to fit as an online handle) was a great dad & husband, gave his all as a teacher and a firefighter, found time to be a big Twins fan, car enthusiast, and give back to his community in many, many ways. I'm proud to be his son, and sad because I'll only be able to tell my own kids how great he was.
Sorry to hear about your dad, man. Perhaps drinks at the Malt House would be good, on me.
Some time at the Malt House would be swell. I'll let you know when I get back to town and we'll go from there.
Sorry to hear about your dad.
My deepest sympathies, CH.
My condolences, CH, to you and your family.
My sincere condolences, CH. I've got no words. But I look forward to hearing more about him, when you are ready.
I'm sorry to hear of your loss, CH. My thoughts are with your family.
You and your family are in our prayers.
Terrible loss CH, sorry to hear it. I second Dr. Fever, I'm looking forward to hearing about him.
Thank you so much, each one of you. When I finally catch up with my responsibilities I will start putting together a fitting tribute to Pops. His obituary will run tomorrow online an in the papers, but it mostly is split between Pops' public/professional presence and a bit about his family. The tribute here will be a substantially more personal.
Try to keep coming up with new jokes and memes to a minimum until I get back, okay?
best wishes for the days and months ahead, CH. we look forward to reading your tribute.
My condolences to you and your family.
The weather report doesn't look good for today's game.
Yesterday, KSTP was all but guaranteeing a rain out tonight.
Well, he was decent at drafting most some of the time. However, when he missed, he really missed.
Are you saying that trading up to select Tarvaris Jackson was a mistake?
Wasn't a feather in his cap, that's for sure.
I thought they way the Viking drafted was the Triangle of Power: with Rick Spielman and Scott Studwell and the Coach. Childress gets credit for finding some players, but it was not all him
I don't know just how much say he had, but I think that was the one thing he did really well in his time in Minnesota.... uhh, Tarvaris Jackson excepted.
He did get AP, Percy Harvin, Chad Greenway, Sidney Rice, Cedric Griffin, Ray Edwards, etc.
He generally did well in the first two rounds, except T-Jack and the jury is still out on Gerhart. I think the Webb pick last year was the best he did at drafting QB.
Admittedly, they haven't really had great draft position to get a QB. They're in terrible position for it this year. They desperately need a QB, and the fanbase wants a QB, but they have enough holes that they really need to draft BPA. Unless somehow Gabbert falls to 12 (which is extremely unlikely), I hope for their sake they trade back and try to position themselves at the top of round 2 to get someone like Ponder or Dalton.
I hope they don't draft a QB at twelve, I don't see any way that there would be good value in any of the guys available at that point. Either trade down or wait until round 2 to pick up your QB.
Having watched Gabbert play this year, I'd would have rather have had the past two Mizzou QB's than this one.
I'm a little surprised that Gabbert is as highly thought of as he is- I really hope some team takes him before 12 so the Vikings aren't tempted. Same goes for Newton, he reminds me so much of Vince Young it's scary, and not in a good way.
I was thinking more like JaMarcus Russell.
Wow, you like Newton even less than I do.
I initially read this comment as being about Joanne Newsom. Heh.
[E-6 batsignal averted]
More similarities. Both Russell and Newton only had one big season that vaulted them high in the draft, while Young had three big seasons at Texas.
Drafting QBs always seems like a tricky proposition since they tend to take some time to develop and the NFL doesn't have any kind of minor league or reserve league.
I just checked on my new laptop. I ordered it April 15th. It was supposed to ship this Friday, the 29th. That's within the 10 business days they said at the beginning. Now it's pushed back to May 9th. That's another 2 weeks without a computer at home. I'm sorta pissed. The only thing that wasn't stock on the model I ordered was I added Bluetooth. Surely Lenovo has enough of those components to not delay my laptop that long.
I had a similar experience with HP. I ordered a tower and they said it would be built and shipped April 18, then we got an apologetic letter saying it wouldn't be shipped until May 11. However, we got an email Friday saying that it had been shipped and it arrived Saturday night. So, hopefully, yours will come sooner than expected (the second time) as well.
A couple of years ago I'd ordered a netbook from Lenovo which I was told would ship within 7 to 10 days, then got pushed out to a month, then got pushed out to 3 months away. Needless to say I cancelled the order.
my replacement screen for The Girl's EeePC showed up yesterday. The swearing will commence this weekend.
Hey Mags, did Omar get dressed up and go to the Drake Relays Beautiful Bulldogs yesterday?
Not officially, but I might take him to campus over the weekend just to chill.
I might take him to campus over the weekend just to chill pick up chicks. FTFY.
(and yes, I'm aware that you're taken, but still...)
That doesn't mean I can't loan him out to my single buddies.
I don't think he needed to make one somersault, let alone two, on that play.
he may have been trying to avoid crushing his wrist...the second was obviously intentional
ya think?
i think it was the boss that said, "million dollar body, 50 cent head", right?
I think with the second, he was trying to land on his feet but missed.
I agree, I think if he's guilty of showboating there, it's more that he was trying to do the "amazing catch, front flip and land on his feet" bit. The look on his face right when he lands the second flip doesn't exactly look like the look of somebody who just did two intentional somersaults.
I sure miss that guy.
I'd give up two wins a year just for the entertainment value.
I just found out that in about four weeks, my position at my job is being eliminated across the company. This is actually the second time this has happened to me in this company (the first time was a pointless restructure, but this time, I'd be in their corner if I wasn't the guy being elbowed out).
I'm experiencing so many emotions. Apathy...
...huh, I can't find anything besides apathy. I'll probably end up in one of our 156 coffeehouses in town.
Oy. Best wishes, spooky. That's tough news.
Yuck, sorry to hear that spooky. I hear that Party Down is always looking for Team Leaders.
ahh, too bad you just missed the big hiring fair they had at mcD's. you seem like someone with "ketchup" in their veins.
I'll add McD's to the list, right above suicide. Or maybe right below.
Hey, it wasn't that bad...
er, nevermind. It was.
This is a bummer. I'm sorry to hear this, dude.
Good luck with the job search, Spooky. Hopefully it turns out better than you expect.
I'll piggyback on your misery, I was just informed that I am not the top chef candidate at my program. The letter lets you know that you're loved, but don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
Ugh. I've read that letter before (unrelated to the culinary arts, of course).
Best of fortune, meat.
er, sorry, inside joak, top chef = master printer.
I was a bit confused by that one. I thought maybe you meant "chief", though "top chief" would be a little redundant.
That makes a lot more sense, but we have enough foodies around here that I just took it at face value.
Oy. It's a day of joy at the WGOM. Best wishes, meat.
Only one top chef candidate per season?
There were two top chef spots this year. I'm mostly relieved that I get to go home, but it's bitter sweet.
Here's hoping that your next gig works out as well for you as David Ortiz's did after the Twins let him go.
As a writer, if you want to supplement until something steady comes along, I would recommend Demand Media Studios. It's not always exciting writing, but it's all online and you can do as much or as little as you want and whenever you have time. I think it would work well for your schedule. I copy edit for them.
I forgot, DMS also hires independent filmmakers. I have no idea how that works, but you might want to check it out.
Thanks, socal. I'm looking into both.
I'm sorry to hear that, Milkman. Hopefully a full fat gig comes your whey soon.
Right now I'm working with a group in LA in an attempt to turn Spookymilk Survivor into a full-time job. Sounds like it can be done, with the right model.
I hope you're holding up, dude. I don't know much about what happened, only that it happened. Email me if and when you ever feel the need, of course.
Spookymilk Survivor as a full-time gig sounds equally rewarding and incredibly demanding. Definitely keep us posted on how things develop.
I'm doing pretty well, all things considered, but the offer to email is particularly appreciated. I'll talk more about the circumstances later, but this was the statistically likely outcome, although the end came much quicker than we anticipated based on his reports of even two weeks ago.
I'm reading "Song of Solomon" right now - so Milkman isn't exactly a good name to hear. 🙂
Wish you luck, Spooky. Hopefully something even better comes of it!
Good luck and best wishes to you.
Lousy news, we're all pulling for you.
Wow, tough day here for folks at the WGOM.
Hope you can find something better.
If you lived about 1560 miles closer, I could offer some babysitting.
Now, see, if he really were a "true Yankee", he woulda caught the popup a la Billy Martin. The story in the Sacbee this morning described the play thusly: the popup fell in in front of "a charging Jeter". Hahahaha.
When I read that AP story, I wondered how a "high pop-up" could fall right behind the mound. Then I remembered Jeter has almost no range, and it all made sense again.
You know what I've been missing lately? A story speculating on Jeter's chances to get to 4,000 hits.
Eminem, Foo Fighters, Muse, Cee Lo Green, Explosions in the Sky, Flogging Molly,
And plenty more, like Grace Potter & Nocturnals and Ween, that I would like to see because I'm curious about them, but don't necessarily consider them "musts".
I assure you, seeing Ween live is a must. 🙂
They are an incredible live band. Even people I know who aren't all into their stuff on record really loved seeing them live.
I was thinking of the fact I know you like Ween when I saw them on the list.
I agree with Zach - my wife's due the week following that show and I almost think she'd consider a Chi-town trip to catch them live. Our first date was a Ween concert at First Ave.
Was it one of the shows in 2003? Those were the first shows I ever went to.
Yup, July 29/30, 2003. I'd never heard of them before that first show...seen them 4 times since that first one. Gene & Dreiwitz are doing a couple of shows, June 17 & 18 in Minneapolis. Care to make the trip down?
The first is so great the others lose a little luster, but they are all awesome.
i just had a decent spookymilksurvivor idea: project mayhem product reviews. similar to the first comment for the cable, the challenge is to leave a review on actual products on the actual websites. for submission, simply provide the link.
Some years back there were a bunch of funny reviews of the Family Circus books on Amazon. I had one that was nicely received. Not sure if those are still up, I'm guessing they are.
I like, hj.
24 month financing for a cable to plug your DVD player into your tee-vee. Sign me up!
Whenever I see amusing review like that, I always remember one of the originals: a review of The Story About Ping. You need to be familiar with the program to get the joke, but the review is (in)famous at this point.
When I worked in the computer lab in HS, my best friend and I would say "Give me a ping, Vassily. One ping only, please." every time we used "ping". We were nerds.
Haha, my friend and I did the exact same thing at tech school.
Anyone been following the top20 MLB games of the last 50 years? 1991 Game 7 is going to be either #1 or #2. I don't know for sure, but I think its main competition is game6 of the 2002 World Series with the Halos comeback over Barry and the Giants.
Where was 2001 Game 7 or 1986 Game 6? Or 1975 Game 6? I can't believe 2002 Game 6 is ranked above those. Probably was an online vote, if it was.
Bucker game is coming up this Sunday, #3. 2001 game 7 was #9. You're right though, the 1975 game6 hasn't been showed yet (for some reason I thought it had), and clearly that will be the competion for #1. The 2002 game6 didn't even make the top20.
I believe the UP HQ building needs gargoyles. Not related to anything here, it just occurred to me in a boring meeting.
Good people, unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, the "clean" version of our new album, The Hot Sauce Committee pt 2 has leaked. So as a hostile and retaliatory measure with great hubris we are making the full explicit aka filthy dirty nasty version available for streaming on our site. We hope this brings much happiness, hugs, and harmony. Enjoy Kikoos for life!
Dang. Guess I will do a rain-out anagram. Looking at the Rays' roster, I choose Robinson Chirinos because I think it's a great name, he was part of the Matt Garza trade with the Cubs, and he's an interesting case as someone who switched from infielder to catcher at the late age of 23 - and has done very well since. He has yet to get a plate appearance this year, however.
Ironic Bison Horns
Do you do your own anagramming, or do you use a website/application?
Back before one could just fire things through the internet, I used to do them manually. But I no longer have quite as much idle time, so I take the easy way out and use the Internet Anagram Server(which is an anagram for I, Rearrangement Servant): http://wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html
To me, it's like astrology - silly but fun.
The two examples from the IAS home page: parliament is an anagram of partial men; Clint Eastwood an anagram of Old West Action.
I've used that before. An anagram of my real name is "Ace Murderwing". Nothing quite as interesting for my assumed name.
Huh. My full name has "Ultra Zen Barkeep". That's about it. If you don't include my middle name, there's not much of anything.
So, extrapolating from what I already know, your middle name is "Lana." Or maybe "Anal."
Yup, [redacted] Anal [redacted].
My parents have issues.
My middle name is the same as yours, nib, though it's spelled "Anell."
It's a surprisingly common middle name.
Almost as unusual as Marschall.
Heh.
Arboreal bar snit.
Mine comes out in 3 words to "Blame Rough Ninth". In two words, "Another Humbling" is the only anagram. I guess I was named from anagrams of headlines for baseball game recaps.
I'm a ruler to lamebrains
RAM
Or MAR!
Dang. I feel like I haven't seen a game in forever, and I could use one today.
Who's everyone rooting for in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest? Uh, right. But if I were rooting, I would have to choose Slovakia's entry, the TWiiNS, both for their name and because... well, I searched Flickr's creative commons photos and came up empty handed, but they are easy on the eyes.
My friend Clem has these wild Eurovision parties every year. I went to it when I was in Dublin. Everyone picks a country and has to bring food & drink from there, as well as dress up. I don't remember the drinking rules - things like drink for every costume change, every time they switch language mid-song, chug on pyrotechnics - but everyone's toasted by the end of the night.
Do the TWiiNS have good music?
The ten seconds I listened to online was generic upbeat pop music.
More evidence that the gubmint is hiding evidence of extraterrestrial aliens out in the desert. The Truth is Out There. They don't want us to know!!!
/tinfoil hat
Oh, FTLT. I cursed you. I'm so sorry.
Through the years the hitman has gotten used to getting beat up. Nothing new.
This Vancouver/Chicago game is insane.
Yeah, man. These NHL playoffs have been generally wild so far.
I haven't watched more than a few minutes of hockey in the last 10-15 years, but I think I might have to watch more.
Those Vancouver jerseys sure are slick looking.
I know it doesn't necessarily make me the best fan, but I generally don't watch much hockey until the Stanley Cup playoffs. But boy, once that starts I'm all over it. For my money, it's the best postseason around.
Generally wild?
Just in case we all forgot the Minnesota team is out golfing now, you just had to rub that one in didn't you?
Wow, that was a pretty poor choice of words right there...
One of the few benefits of having a team nickname that plays as an adjective is the unintentional hilarity of the occasional unrelated headline (or internet comment) that can be willfully misinterpreted.
Carmelo Anthony, GM of the Knicks:
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2011/04/25/2011-04-25_amare_stoudemire_wants_mike_dantoni_back_carmelo_anthony_less_forceful_in_praise.html#ixzz1Kcj6FVVT
That does free up D'Antoni to GM the Celtics instead.
I really feel that Isaiah Thomas should coach this team next year. That would please me greatly.
I heard on SportsCenter this morning that Jared Weaver has the most win before April 26th in baseball history. Thats cool and all, but for about 100 years they didnt start playing until late April and for about 50 more they started around half way through the month
Rick Reilly is so hip!
Fiancee! They've been married for a year and a half. Someone get this blogger an editor!
OK, I read enough of the article to get to that part you quoted. I can't believe you where still paying close enough attention to catch that error.
What's crazy is that Reilly looks down his considerable nose at Bill Simmons. Yeah, the Sports Guy can be a little, um, too much sometimes, but his piece about the Kings situation in particular and the NBA in general is terrific. Contrast that with the drivel coming out of Reilly these days.
I like a lot of Simmons' stuff, but I can't stand listening to him talk. Reilly, well, I'd rather not read or listen to him.
I like to read Simmons on the NBA not because I think he's particularly expert about the league (or anything), but because his enthusiasm for the sport really comes through in his writing. I read Simmons on the NBA, and it makes me want to go watch basketball, even though I'm not really a basketball guy.
I am going to be pretty tied up today, can someone who is has more time than me tear this article apart. Seriously, let's not lose our cool about attendance after one month. And especially cold, snowy, rainy, lousy month. I will be back tomorrow to review the work done on this.
Also, I hate to do this two weeks in a row but can someone pinch hit for me tonight. I promise I will write a game log next week. I promise.
Thanking you in advance,
The Hitman.
I think you did a pretty good job of refuting most of his argument. Did you see the Toronto numbers on there? Sure, the Dodgers got issues, but I don't think that what they are going through is representative of the rest of the league.
I believe this is also one of the most severe April's for weather in a long time, if I am not mistaken. The local meteorologist was saying something about a record number of severe weather reports across the country in April.
My favorite part, though, was this:
WTF? The Twins had the 6th highest attendance last year and are currently 4th this year. That was just a weird dig on the Twins for reasons I can't comprehend.
(Full disclosure, I very much dislike Passan.)
I generally think Passan is good. As far as national baseball writers go, I can't think of anyone considerably better than him outside of Posnanski. (If there's some awful writing out there, I could be persuaded that he's a hack.)
Agreed completely here. I frequently enjoy Passan's writing.
i gotcha covered, hitman.
It doesn't help that there are no new stadiums opening either. The Twins' big bump in sales last year helped keep the overall numbers from being too bad, but the Twins can't go up this year.
Not sure what you have written, but I did a quick import of the numbers into Excel. Vital stats:
First off, the -500/game number is bogus, IMO. That's doing a weighted average over all the teams, so that teams who have had more home games count more towards the average. If you think the Royals' attendance should count for twice the Twins' attendance so far, then the weighted average is the right way to go. If instead you are rational and believe that all teams should be weighted equally, the difference is -338 per game.
The standard deviation of bb-ref's "DiffPerGame" (difference in attendance per game for each team) is 4,130. Divide that by the square root of 30 to get the standard deviation of the sample mean, and you get about 750.
So basically, the difference in attendance so far is more accurately stated as -338 per game +/- 750. Even using the figure of -500, it's easily within the statistical noise this early in the season.
But, I suppose Mr. Passan can feel free to worry about this attendance "problem" in a league that can draw 9M+ fans in less than a month.
Passan just got pwned by ubes. Nice work tearing that completely to pieces.
Citizenry: I don't know whether he would want it advertised here or not just yet, so I'll just say go to the WGOM facebook page. I've shared some very sad news about one of our own.
:'(
Sent a request to join, been meaning to get around to it for a while.
I should probably do the same...
i didnt know about a facebook group
[slips the sekret password to dw]
There wasn't any intention to keep it a sekret, nor any significant effort to advertise it. Very. Slow. Growth. (until the recent cataclysm, anyway)
It's still only half-baked.
While sitting in meetings this morning I was WONDERING why all the new requests were popping up today. Good to see WGOM going social, although besides the June event there isn't a whole lot going on there yet. Not that it was meant to replace here.
btw, feel free to invite yourselves to the ballgame event. I can't keep up.
Thanks, Doc. I appreciate care with which you shared this news. I've been pretty busy, first taking care of my dad, stepmom, and younger siblings, then dealing with arrangements. His passing is well known at this point, and while I had something more personal to say on the matter, for now I'm so busy that I have to set it aside. Pops Hayes (something I never called him, but seemed to fit as an online handle) was a great dad & husband, gave his all as a teacher and a firefighter, found time to be a big Twins fan, car enthusiast, and give back to his community in many, many ways. I'm proud to be his son, and sad because I'll only be able to tell my own kids how great he was.
Sorry to hear about your dad, man. Perhaps drinks at the Malt House would be good, on me.
Some time at the Malt House would be swell. I'll let you know when I get back to town and we'll go from there.
Sorry to hear about your dad.
My deepest sympathies, CH.
My condolences, CH, to you and your family.
My sincere condolences, CH. I've got no words. But I look forward to hearing more about him, when you are ready.
I'm sorry to hear of your loss, CH. My thoughts are with your family.
You and your family are in our prayers.
Terrible loss CH, sorry to hear it. I second Dr. Fever, I'm looking forward to hearing about him.
Thank you so much, each one of you. When I finally catch up with my responsibilities I will start putting together a fitting tribute to Pops. His obituary will run tomorrow online an in the papers, but it mostly is split between Pops' public/professional presence and a bit about his family. The tribute here will be a substantially more personal.
Try to keep coming up with new jokes and memes to a minimum until I get back, okay?
best wishes for the days and months ahead, CH. we look forward to reading your tribute.
My condolences to you and your family.
The weather report doesn't look good for today's game.
Yesterday, KSTP was all but guaranteeing a rain out tonight.
Brad Childress, draft expert.
Well, he was decent at drafting
mostsome of the time. However, when he missed, he really missed.Are you saying that trading up to select Tarvaris Jackson was a mistake?
Wasn't a feather in his cap, that's for sure.
I thought they way the Viking drafted was the Triangle of Power: with Rick Spielman and Scott Studwell and the Coach. Childress gets credit for finding some players, but it was not all him
I don't know just how much say he had, but I think that was the one thing he did really well in his time in Minnesota.... uhh, Tarvaris Jackson excepted.
He did get AP, Percy Harvin, Chad Greenway, Sidney Rice, Cedric Griffin, Ray Edwards, etc.
He generally did well in the first two rounds, except T-Jack and the jury is still out on Gerhart. I think the Webb pick last year was the best he did at drafting QB.
Admittedly, they haven't really had great draft position to get a QB. They're in terrible position for it this year. They desperately need a QB, and the fanbase wants a QB, but they have enough holes that they really need to draft BPA. Unless somehow Gabbert falls to 12 (which is extremely unlikely), I hope for their sake they trade back and try to position themselves at the top of round 2 to get someone like Ponder or Dalton.
I hope they don't draft a QB at twelve, I don't see any way that there would be good value in any of the guys available at that point. Either trade down or wait until round 2 to pick up your QB.
Having watched Gabbert play this year, I'd would have rather have had the past two Mizzou QB's than this one.
I'm a little surprised that Gabbert is as highly thought of as he is- I really hope some team takes him before 12 so the Vikings aren't tempted. Same goes for Newton, he reminds me so much of Vince Young it's scary, and not in a good way.
I was thinking more like JaMarcus Russell.
Wow, you like Newton even less than I do.
I initially read this comment as being about Joanne Newsom. Heh.
[E-6 batsignal averted]
More similarities. Both Russell and Newton only had one big season that vaulted them high in the draft, while Young had three big seasons at Texas.
Drafting QBs always seems like a tricky proposition since they tend to take some time to develop and the NFL doesn't have any kind of minor league or reserve league.
I just checked on my new laptop. I ordered it April 15th. It was supposed to ship this Friday, the 29th. That's within the 10 business days they said at the beginning. Now it's pushed back to May 9th. That's another 2 weeks without a computer at home. I'm sorta pissed. The only thing that wasn't stock on the model I ordered was I added Bluetooth. Surely Lenovo has enough of those components to not delay my laptop that long.
I had a similar experience with HP. I ordered a tower and they said it would be built and shipped April 18, then we got an apologetic letter saying it wouldn't be shipped until May 11. However, we got an email Friday saying that it had been shipped and it arrived Saturday night. So, hopefully, yours will come sooner than expected (the second time) as well.
A couple of years ago I'd ordered a netbook from Lenovo which I was told would ship within 7 to 10 days, then got pushed out to a month, then got pushed out to 3 months away. Needless to say I cancelled the order.
my replacement screen for The Girl's EeePC showed up yesterday. The swearing will commence this weekend.
Hey Mags, did Omar get dressed up and go to the Drake Relays Beautiful Bulldogs yesterday?
Not officially, but I might take him to campus over the weekend just to chill.
I might take him to campus over the weekend just to
chillpick up chicks. FTFY.(and yes, I'm aware that you're taken, but still...)
That doesn't mean I can't loan him out to my single buddies.
Go-Go having fun in the outfield.
I don't think he needed to make one somersault, let alone two, on that play.
he may have been trying to avoid crushing his wrist...the second was obviously intentional
ya think?
i think it was the boss that said, "million dollar body, 50 cent head", right?
I think with the second, he was trying to land on his feet but missed.
I agree, I think if he's guilty of showboating there, it's more that he was trying to do the "amazing catch, front flip and land on his feet" bit. The look on his face right when he lands the second flip doesn't exactly look like the look of somebody who just did two intentional somersaults.
I sure miss that guy.
I'd give up two wins a year just for the entertainment value.
I just found out that in about four weeks, my position at my job is being eliminated across the company. This is actually the second time this has happened to me in this company (the first time was a pointless restructure, but this time, I'd be in their corner if I wasn't the guy being elbowed out).
I'm experiencing so many emotions. Apathy...
...huh, I can't find anything besides apathy. I'll probably end up in one of our 156 coffeehouses in town.
Oy. Best wishes, spooky. That's tough news.
Yuck, sorry to hear that spooky. I hear that Party Down is always looking for Team Leaders.
ahh, too bad you just missed the big hiring fair they had at mcD's. you seem like someone with "ketchup" in their veins.
I'll add McD's to the list, right above suicide. Or maybe right below.
Hey, it wasn't that bad...
er, nevermind. It was.
This is a bummer. I'm sorry to hear this, dude.
Good luck with the job search, Spooky. Hopefully it turns out better than you expect.
I'll piggyback on your misery, I was just informed that I am not the top chef candidate at my program. The letter lets you know that you're loved, but don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
Ugh. I've read that letter before (unrelated to the culinary arts, of course).
Best of fortune, meat.
er, sorry, inside joak, top chef = master printer.
I was a bit confused by that one. I thought maybe you meant "chief", though "top chief" would be a little redundant.
That makes a lot more sense, but we have enough foodies around here that I just took it at face value.
Oy. It's a day of joy at the WGOM. Best wishes, meat.
Only one top chef candidate per season?
There were two top chef spots this year. I'm mostly relieved that I get to go home, but it's bitter sweet.
Here's hoping that your next gig works out as well for you as David Ortiz's did after the Twins let him go.
As a writer, if you want to supplement until something steady comes along, I would recommend Demand Media Studios. It's not always exciting writing, but it's all online and you can do as much or as little as you want and whenever you have time. I think it would work well for your schedule. I copy edit for them.
I forgot, DMS also hires independent filmmakers. I have no idea how that works, but you might want to check it out.
Thanks, socal. I'm looking into both.
I'm sorry to hear that, Milkman. Hopefully a full fat gig comes your whey soon.
Right now I'm working with a group in LA in an attempt to turn Spookymilk Survivor into a full-time job. Sounds like it can be done, with the right model.
I hope you're holding up, dude. I don't know much about what happened, only that it happened. Email me if and when you ever feel the need, of course.
Spookymilk Survivor as a full-time gig sounds equally rewarding and incredibly demanding. Definitely keep us posted on how things develop.
I'm doing pretty well, all things considered, but the offer to email is particularly appreciated. I'll talk more about the circumstances later, but this was the statistically likely outcome, although the end came much quicker than we anticipated based on his reports of even two weeks ago.
I'm reading "Song of Solomon" right now - so Milkman isn't exactly a good name to hear. 🙂
Wish you luck, Spooky. Hopefully something even better comes of it!
Good luck and best wishes to you.
Lousy news, we're all pulling for you.
Wow, tough day here for folks at the WGOM.
Hope you can find something better.
If you lived about 1560 miles closer, I could offer some babysitting.
Now, see, if he really were a "true Yankee", he woulda caught the popup a la Billy Martin. The story in the Sacbee this morning described the play thusly: the popup fell in in front of "a charging Jeter". Hahahaha.
When I read that AP story, I wondered how a "high pop-up" could fall right behind the mound. Then I remembered Jeter has almost no range, and it all made sense again.
You know what I've been missing lately? A story speculating on Jeter's chances to get to 4,000 hits.
This year's Lollapalooza lineup is announced. Those listed that I'd definitely see:
Eminem, Foo Fighters, Muse, Cee Lo Green, Explosions in the Sky, Flogging Molly,
And plenty more, like Grace Potter & Nocturnals and Ween, that I would like to see because I'm curious about them, but don't necessarily consider them "musts".
I assure you, seeing Ween live is a must. 🙂
They are an incredible live band. Even people I know who aren't all into their stuff on record really loved seeing them live.
I was thinking of the fact I know you like Ween when I saw them on the list.
I agree with Zach - my wife's due the week following that show and I almost think she'd consider a Chi-town trip to catch them live. Our first date was a Ween concert at First Ave.
Was it one of the shows in 2003? Those were the first shows I ever went to.
Yup, July 29/30, 2003. I'd never heard of them before that first show...seen them 4 times since that first one. Gene & Dreiwitz are doing a couple of shows, June 17 & 18 in Minneapolis. Care to make the trip down?
Wow, check out these reviews for a $1600 HDMI Cable from Best Buy.
The first is so great the others lose a little luster, but they are all awesome.
i just had a decent spookymilksurvivor idea: project mayhem product reviews. similar to the first comment for the cable, the challenge is to leave a review on actual products on the actual websites. for submission, simply provide the link.
Some years back there were a bunch of funny reviews of the Family Circus books on Amazon. I had one that was nicely received. Not sure if those are still up, I'm guessing they are.
I like, hj.
24 month financing for a cable to plug your DVD player into your tee-vee. Sign me up!
Whenever I see amusing review like that, I always remember one of the originals: a review of The Story About Ping. You need to be familiar with the program to get the joke, but the review is (in)famous at this point.
When I worked in the computer lab in HS, my best friend and I would say "Give me a ping, Vassily. One ping only, please." every time we used "ping". We were nerds.
Haha, my friend and I did the exact same thing at tech school.
+1 crazy Ivan.
Anyone been following the top20 MLB games of the last 50 years? 1991 Game 7 is going to be either #1 or #2. I don't know for sure, but I think its main competition is game6 of the 2002 World Series with the Halos comeback over Barry and the Giants.
Where was 2001 Game 7 or 1986 Game 6? Or 1975 Game 6? I can't believe 2002 Game 6 is ranked above those. Probably was an online vote, if it was.
Bucker game is coming up this Sunday, #3. 2001 game 7 was #9. You're right though, the 1975 game6 hasn't been showed yet (for some reason I thought it had), and clearly that will be the competion for #1. The 2002 game6 didn't even make the top20.
I believe the UP HQ building needs gargoyles. Not related to anything here, it just occurred to me in a boring meeting.
Gargoyles?
New Beastie Boys:
Twins rained out tonight. Day/Night on Thursday.
Dang. Guess I will do a rain-out anagram. Looking at the Rays' roster, I choose Robinson Chirinos because I think it's a great name, he was part of the Matt Garza trade with the Cubs, and he's an interesting case as someone who switched from infielder to catcher at the late age of 23 - and has done very well since. He has yet to get a plate appearance this year, however.
Ironic Bison Horns
Do you do your own anagramming, or do you use a website/application?
Back before one could just fire things through the internet, I used to do them manually. But I no longer have quite as much idle time, so I take the easy way out and use the Internet Anagram Server(which is an anagram for I, Rearrangement Servant): http://wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html
To me, it's like astrology - silly but fun.
The two examples from the IAS home page: parliament is an anagram of partial men; Clint Eastwood an anagram of Old West Action.
I've used that before. An anagram of my real name is "Ace Murderwing". Nothing quite as interesting for my assumed name.
Huh. My full name has "Ultra Zen Barkeep". That's about it. If you don't include my middle name, there's not much of anything.
So, extrapolating from what I already know, your middle name is "Lana." Or maybe "Anal."
Yup, [redacted] Anal [redacted].
My parents have issues.
My middle name is the same as yours, nib, though it's spelled "Anell."
It's a surprisingly common middle name.
Almost as unusual as Marschall.
Heh.
Arboreal bar snit.
Mine comes out in 3 words to "Blame Rough Ninth". In two words, "Another Humbling" is the only anagram. I guess I was named from anagrams of headlines for baseball game recaps.
I'm a ruler to lamebrains
RAM
Or MAR!
Dang. I feel like I haven't seen a game in forever, and I could use one today.
Who's everyone rooting for in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest? Uh, right. But if I were rooting, I would have to choose Slovakia's entry, the TWiiNS, both for their name and because... well, I searched Flickr's creative commons photos and came up empty handed, but they are easy on the eyes.
My friend Clem has these wild Eurovision parties every year. I went to it when I was in Dublin. Everyone picks a country and has to bring food & drink from there, as well as dress up. I don't remember the drinking rules - things like drink for every costume change, every time they switch language mid-song, chug on pyrotechnics - but everyone's toasted by the end of the night.
Do the TWiiNS have good music?
The ten seconds I listened to online was generic upbeat pop music.
More evidence that the gubmint is hiding evidence of extraterrestrial aliens out in the desert. The Truth is Out There. They don't want us to know!!!
/tinfoil hat
Oh, FTLT. I cursed you. I'm so sorry.
Through the years the hitman has gotten used to getting beat up. Nothing new.
This Vancouver/Chicago game is insane.
Yeah, man. These NHL playoffs have been generally wild so far.
I haven't watched more than a few minutes of hockey in the last 10-15 years, but I think I might have to watch more.
Those Vancouver jerseys sure are slick looking.
I know it doesn't necessarily make me the best fan, but I generally don't watch much hockey until the Stanley Cup playoffs. But boy, once that starts I'm all over it. For my money, it's the best postseason around.
Generally wild?
Just in case we all forgot the Minnesota team is out golfing now, you just had to rub that one in didn't you?
Wow, that was a pretty poor choice of words right there...
One of the few benefits of having a team nickname that plays as an adjective is the unintentional hilarity of the occasional unrelated headline (or internet comment) that can be willfully misinterpreted.