Cup of Coffee

February 15, 2012: Homebound

110 Comments

Unless something gets in the way, the house of Milk will be in Minnesota from March 28th-April 4th. I have a lot of people to see in that timeframe - which seems criminally short - but surely a caucus is in order.

110 thoughts on “February 15, 2012: Homebound”

  1. I had my second interview today at a language school here wherein I gave a demo lesson to an HR person. I'm to come back in on Monday and sign my contract and get my lesson assignments. Now for a celebratory pivo*

    *Beer, of course.

  2. Also, sorry about a lack of EEE this week. We were moving Monday. My WGOM'ing will be quite limited until further notice as we don't have internet at the flat yet. Going to the cafe everytime to use the free WiFi gets a bit pricy.

    1. Twins: 74.5. That puts them last in the Central, barely behind the Indians (75.5) and White Sox (76.5). The Royals meanwhile are at 78.5, which will make their postseason run all that more exciting.

      1. 74.5-78.5 wins might as well be a dead heat at this point. If that's the most accurate view of the season, then all it would for the Twins to reach the Royals is two unexpected wins against the Royals. 10-9 vs. Royals instead of 8-11, say.

        1. Absolutely. All four teams are so thoroughly mediocre that it's a tossup at this point. Whatever teams have a Good Year, if any, will challenge Detroit for the division.

          1. I am sad that they (apparently, since I can't see the linked page here at work) didn't forecast all of the teams to be below .500.

    2. I made the point last year that even if Mauer was totally healthy and performing at, say, his average of the 2007-09 seasons, the Twins were still about a 95 loss team. Do we think that they are, assuming a healthy Mauer, now an 88 loss team or better? I'm not optimistic.

      1. I'm probably overly optimistic because I haven't seen the team on the field yet this year, but I think they'll be somewhere around .500 when all is said and done. If everything breaks the right way, I wouldn't be overly surprised if they were in the division hunt near the end of the season. It's going to be a bad division, and I don't think Detroit is going to run away with things (that defense is going to be brutal with a capital, Olde English B).

    3. Preface: I don't have money to gamble, so these aren't really recommendations (since I wouldn't be making bets myself), but...

      Isn't the under on Detroit awfully tempting? The AL Central was plenty weak last year, the Tigers had plenty of guys with near-career years, and they only got 95 wins. If they use the old 4-team playoff format, then there will be very little incentive for them to play their regulars at the end of the season if they have the division wrapped up. Under the 5-team proposed format, there is much more incentive for them to win at the end of the season, which would make the under less tempting.

      I'm not that much of a KC doubter, but 78.5 wins for them seems a little speculative. Certainly I wouldn't be as sure of an under on KC as an under on the Tigers.

      What does (-120u) mean?

      The prop bet for most wins at 98 seems interesting with Detroit at 94.5, Texas at 94.5, and Philly at 95.5. If someone was inclined to hedge, taking the under on some combination of those teams together with the over on 98 wins could make some sense. I mean, what are the odds, really, that Detroit wins 95-98, Texas wins 95-98, and Philly wins 96-98? Seems like a longshot to me.

      1. What does (-120u) mean?

        You have to bet $120 to win $100. Vegas agrees that the under is tempting.

        1. Thanks, I always get the direction on that wrong. It's odd to me that the only team with a high win projection that is -120u is the Yankees. And I definitely wouldn't be tempted to take the under on Minnesota if it's not even odds.

  6. Mrs. Hayes, who has Crohn's disease, is in at the hospital for a CT scan. She's been suffering from a pretty bad flare for the past eight weeks, and for the last ten has been unable to go to work on several days because of some serious pain. We're really hoping that whatever is causing the pain doesn't involve surgery.

    The entire situation is killing me because I'm stuck at the university and can't be there for her.

    2. Yes, definitely best wishes, CH. Sheenie recently had to switch her medication because the one she previously had been using was not stopping the formation of new lesions on her brain. This new medication has really rough side-effects and it is awful to watch and feel helpless.

    4. All my best, CH. The brother-in-law of a best friend of mine has Crohn's, and I have seen and heard about the kind of agony it causes.

      I don't believe in karma or anything like that, but the tragedies you've endured of late are unfair nonetheless and I know the entire WGOM agrees that it's time for your karma to turn.

      1. Same here.

        Moss' boss has Crohn's, as do his children, and also another co-worker. Challenging stuff.

    6. Thanks, guys, for the kind words. Mrs. Hayes is out of the scanner, but we won't know anything until later today at least, and possibly tomorrow. She had to both drink barium and get some contrast dye injected, so she's feeling a little off, but is headed to work anyway. The nurses told her to hydrate as much as she can to help her kidneys get the stuff out of her system.

    1. "The last verified Civil War veteran, Albert Woolson, died in 1956 at age 109. The last widow, Gertrude Janeway, died in 2003 at age 93."

      So she was born in 1910, the same year as Moss' grandmother, about 45 years after the war. Assuming the husband was at least 15 when in service, he would have been at least 60 years older than his wife/widow. Moss is kind of hoping that "2003" is a typo.

        1. Good lord, per that link, there was another civil war vet widow who died in 2008. (Which is, of course, contrary to the fact presented in the article, but perhaps the article was referring to pension-eligible vets/widows.)

          1. The linked-to Wikipedia article says she kept the marriage secret and wasn't able to claim a pension by Arkansas law. What's interesting is there might be two more, as of 2008:

            A spokeswoman for the UDC, Martha Boltz, has said that there may be two other widows, one in Tennessee and another in North Carolina, but if they are still alive, they choose to remain in anonymity.

    1. Casilla filed for $1.75 million and the Twins countered at $1.065 million, so the two sides settled at $25,000 below the midpoint.

      Victory!

        2. Wow, dig that esoteric reference.

          That was an unfortunate year for my viewing. The Victory thing seemed to drag on forever as I had no means to see my favorite team, and then finally I read that the Victory deal had fallen through and the games would be returning to FSN...as I was on a plane bound for my new home in Washington state. We were dead broke at that time, and I really didn't see more than a few innings of Twins baseball until the playoffs.

          1. I was in college, where I had cable. The deal fell through just when I was returning home, where I didn't. I listened to that season on 830.

    1. Couldn't they just pick three games per Saturday, have one at 12 ET, one at 3:30 ET, and one at 7 ET? Then the blackouts wouldn't hurt anyone because the national games would actually be national. Also, if they are going to pick that many national games, MLB should lift the blackout for games that aren't actually being shown in a particular area.

      Plus, I think that having baseball consistently on all day, every Saturday, all summer would have a big positive promotional aspect. I'd bet that one thing that has boosted NFL ratings (to this point) is consistently having games on Sunday. They are messing with that now, and we'll see how that goes for them, but it'll make it harder for casual fans. Knowing that FOX will have baseball on all Saturday would make me immediately consider tuning to FOX on Saturdays. It's not like they're showing anything better on Saturdays.

      1. I agree with everything you said here. Is there any chance you could get a job with either MLB or Fox and get this change enacted?

          1. Yeah, sounds like that won't be happening, then. I'll just have to go back to waiting for inspiration common sense to suddenly strike the broadcasters and MLB execs.

    3. Fewer chances for my kids to watch any baseball! It's like they're trying to force them into becoming NFL fans.

  11. Chris Broussard is suggesting (among other possibilities) that Orlando should trade Howard, (edit: Ryan Anderson,) and Turkoglu to Miami for Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.

    Discuss.

    2. Oh, why the hell not?

      This is my standard response to any media-suggested trade. Mostly because they never, ever, ever, ever seem to have a chance in hell of happening. Why would Miami do this?

      1. I don't follow the NBA that closely, but I don't think there's any way Miami is trading Bosh, Wade, or James, at least not this year. I think they're committed to giving those three a shot at winning a championship together.

          1. You don't think that LBJ, Howard, and Ryan Howard, Hedo, and Norris Cole/Mario Chalmers three guys off the street could win multiple NBA titles?

            Miami really needs a reliable shot blocker/lane clogger on defense and a couple of reliable three-point shooters. Chris Bosh is just another good-not-great PF.

            1. I think Howard and LBJ would be great together. But why would Miami give up Wade and Bosh? Orlando is losing Howard and has zero leverage.

              1. Oh, I wasn't suggesting that the trade would or should happen. I'm just saying that it wouldn't be totally insane for Miami. It might even make both teams better.

                1. I don't disagree with this. But, it's arguable that it makes Miami better, while this trade would be more than Orlando could otherwise hope for. Plus Wade and Bosh are tied up long term.

                  1. Think about this for Miami: what's the one thing about LeBron that people pick at? He can't close games or come up big in big moments. Is Dwight Howard going to do that?

  12. Somehow I missed this last month, but they're making a Party Down movie! I cannot wait to get more bitter, sarcastic oneliners from Martin Starr and great deadpans from Adam Scott.

    1. Party Down is a show I need to watch, just haven't gotten around to doing it.
      #sixtwoseasonsandamovie

    3. I have absolutely no idea why, but I'm going through that show at a snail's pace. Every time I watch one, I laugh my ass off, but I think I have to be in the mood to really see characters do and say amazingly stupid things. It's the closest an American sitcom has ever come to matching the discomfort of Extras and the BBC Office, unless I'm forgetting something, which I probably am.

      1. Do you consider Curb Your Enthusiasm a sitcom? That's the most uncomfortable sitcom-like show I can think of. All of Tim & Eric's shows are hilarious, and super uncomfortable, but none are sitcoms.

        1. I'm cursing through season one of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, and it's the most painful thing I've ever watched. ever. Dave Cross and Will Arnett make me uncomfortable, but they're also pretty funny.

            1. It leans too heavily on attempted shock humor at times and not enough on wit, but the aforementioned actors are great, as you already knew without watching it. It's a fun diversion and picks up steam as it goes.

  13. As the son of an IP attorney who likes to consider himself close personal friends with the plaintiff (and whose sister is on the wall at the establishment named after the plaintiff), I'm curious what my father will think about this.

    1. He'll probably think that it's very expensive advertising. Dos Gingers is pretty decent stuff btw.

      1. He claims to have trademarked "Big Ginger" back in 2009. Someone in my family more skilled than I would probably be better at verifying that claimed.

        1. His claim is correct. In view of that fact, what do you think of the statement by Professor Port that it's just "three generic words"? Anyone who has taken trademark law knows that the word "generic" is a loaded one, you guys.

          1. If I had known about this pending suit, I would have asked Professor Port last Friday when Sheenie and I had dinner with him.

          2. Either Port was mis-quoted or he needs to brush up. They need to show likelihood of confusion, not actual consumer confusion. And there are plenty of other theories they can pursue as well.

            1. That's right. His area of specialty is trademarks, so I wonder if he wasn't misquoted a little bit.

    3. I'm just a bum on the street when it comes to trademark law, but this seems like a legitimate complaint. It's essentially the same product with essentially the same name, and it hardly seems coincidental.

  14. On The Grill In The Bowl.

    Vietnamese Chicken Soup.

    Variation on an earlier Vietnamese Chix Soup recipe I posted summat back.

    2 chic breasts
    1 onion, cut in half
    chuck of ginger, unpeeled

    (A) broth
    2 tbsp whole coriander seeds
    4 whole cloves
    2 tbsp brown sugar
    2 tbsp fish sauce (3 Crabs is my fav)
    bunch of cilantro
    1/2 can of organic chicken broth

    (B) Accompaniments on the table
    bean sprouts
    lime wedges
    pistacchio chopped up
    red onion chopped up thinly
    chopped cilantro heads

    rice noodles
    hoisin sauce
    Sriracha hot sauce
    sliced chilis

    Put onion and ginger under the broiler 15 min - let get dark. After cooking, rub to get the charred skin off, and use a butter knife to scrape the skin off the ginger - cut it into slices.

    Fill a stockpot with water, and boil. Throw in the chix breasts, braised onions+ginger, and (A) above - cook for 15 min. Take out the chicken, and use a fork to tear into smaller pieces. Continue boiling the broth for another hour.

    Prepare rice noodles with plenty of water.

    When everyone is finally home and ready for dinner, drain the broth through a colander, then put noodles/chicken chunks into bowls, and ladle broth over the chicken.

    Serve quickly, keeping everything hot. Best to serve other ingredients (B) in separate dishes. Sriracha and hoisin should be carefully added as can overpower the rest of the dish - need Chinese spoons/chopsticks to make it work.

      1. Aha. I would have had star anise in the mix but didna get to my Viet. groc store this weekend, and my regular store - Stop-N-Shop (formerly Walbaums) does not carry said ingredient. My bad.

      2. Living where I do in Saint Paul, there are a few places nearby that serve better-than-average Phó. I've come to enjoy it quite a bit so I will definitely try this recipe. Thanks for sharing!

  17. Now, this is owning your rep

    Millions of Americans watch what they eat. But one Las Vegas man has painfully discovered that where you eat can have a big impact on your health as well. In a story almost too bizarre to be true, a man suffered a heart attack after eating a "triple bypass burger" at the Heart Attack Grill in downtown Las Vegas, local affiliate Fox5 reports.

    As comically tragic as that may sound, no one can sue the restaurant for not issuing fair warning. Its website proudly proclaims the menu offers, "Taste Worth Dying For!" (Fortunately, the man in question survived his attack.)

    Still, it was the first actual known cardiac incident at the Heart Attack Grill. "He was having the sweats and shaking," "Nurse" Bridgett, who was working at the restaurant at the time of the incident, told Fox5. (Employees at the restaurant are given fake medical titles, including the establishment's owner, "Doctor" Jon Basso.)
    ....
    Some of the menu items available for diners at the Heart Attack Grill include: The butterfat milkshake, non-filtered cigarettes, "flatliner" fries and four different burgers, each rated on an ascending scale of one bypass to the quadruple bypass burger.

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