145 thoughts on “March 2, 2012: Lucky Break”

  1. This got buried in yesterday's CoC, but Netflix isn't streaming Season 4 of Breaking Bad yet. It doesn't appear to be on AMC.com or through Comcast streaming video. I could watch it through I-tunes but that gets spendy. I guess I could go bit torrent but I generally try to avoid that route.

    Any suggestions?

    1. It looks like you can get season 4 on amazon for $20.99 versus $34.99 on itunes. There are other streaming options available online, of course, with the usual caveats.

    2. yeah, i was going to say that since it's not even released on DVD yet, your options are pretty limited.

  2. We're getting this Taco Johns ad here in Omaha. Has Kent Hrbek gone national. Checking the comments, they all seem to be from disgruntled Braves fans that haven't moved on yet from '91.

      1. Further reinforcing my belief* that Hrbek is TC Bear.

        *I've got second hand-evidence that it's false. Co-worker claims to have played softball with TC, yet has never met Hrbek. I could follow up on it, but why? Plus, I would guess that Hrbek isn't always TC, just some of the time.

        1. With TC Bear, I'm like a 10yo considering Santa Claus. I'll give myself every opportunity to believe something that deep down I know can't be true.
          Except, my TC Bear Mythos could be true.

    2. Taco Johns now has Fish Tacos? I need one now.
      Too bad I wasted half my lunch surfing the internet, and the TJ in the skyway is a good 15 minutes one way.
      Next Friday!

      1. I am a big fan of the fish taco, dating back to many happy times at Rubio's in San Diego (Number 5 combo FTW!). But I am more than a wee bit skeptical of TJ's ability to produce an edible fish taco.

        1. I have never eaten a fish taco. For some reason, seafood and Mexican just don't seem to go together for me.

          2. I also have never eaten a fish taco. Im not a big fan of fish in general, except for canned tuna and processed fish (?) stick/fillets.

            1. You live in Minnesota and do not enjoy eating mass quantities of beer-battered fish fillets?

              vote dw

              2. I am not a big beer batter dude, either. I do like Walleye rolled in flour, but Salmon is the be all and end all.

          3. Hey Philo are you in the Twin Cities? If you ever find yourself at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, try the fish tacos at Sea Salt. They are insanely good.

        2. I actually make a mean fish taco -- Phylo, they don't taste "fishy" at all. I made them last Friday so I think tonight we are just having pasta with a mariana sauce.

          2. I've got no beef with fish (hehe!), just fish and Mexican mixed together seems weird.

            Last week was church fish fry, this week is tuna. Next week I'll break out the cookbook and do some sort of fancy shrimp dish. Last year I made a Vietnamese-style shrimp lettuce cup dish during Lent. No recipe, just started throwing stuff together. Maybe I'll do that again, it was pretty awesome.

            After that it'll be back to fish sticks or something lame.

            Also, I gave up cheese for lent, which makes Fridays even more difficult.

        3. Love fish tacos. Could not pay me to try the Taco John version.

          When at his cabin, a sculptor pal (from Chile) beer-batters sunnies and serves them on hard shells with a black bean paste, red cabbage, a slice of avocado and a squeeze of lime. Muy bueno.

          1. Yeah, that sounds pretty awesome.

            I fry blue corn tortillas in a little oil till crunchy, drain on paper towels, pulverize in a food processor, and use the crumbs as my breading for almost any fish. Heavily season the breading and flour mixture with salt, pepper, chili powder and a pinch of cumin. I find that dredging in flour, egg, flour, egg and then the tortilla breading makes for an excellent crunch. Also works for oven baking for the more healthy inclined.

            Served with sour cream, shredded cabbage, mango salsa (trader joes is more than serviceable) on either flour or softened corn tortillas. Perfect summer dish.

            1. umm, why is this here?

              DUDE! THE NATION HAS AN APPETITE!!!!

              Make it happen. With pictures, preferably.

              1. I have an appetite, and no time... Oh, smoked pork + spring rolls for dinner tonight. Post when I get to it.

                1. and I had to call and audible as a friend just called up for dinner and is a devote catholic. Back to tofu spring rolls it is.

          3. Favorite fish tacos in Estados Unidos is Adobe Cantina, 29100 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, CA.

            Great fish tacos (mahi mahi), margaritas, service is also great.

          4. I find TJ's much preferrable to Taco Bell.
            Probably because they were the tacos available to me when I was young. And because their flavors are more than salt and lard.
            Those are really the only two fast taco joints I'm familiar with.
            I see a Friday lunch of Fish Tacos, Potato Olés, finished up with an Apple Grande. (Mmm, Cheese on Dessert!)

            Now, if Chipotle actually made fish tacos, I'd probably wait in line for them.

    1. Eh...those examples aren't really all that bad. Has Nick read HBT? Yahoo? ESPN? It almost seems like he doesn't know how good he has it. Those are pointless, throwaway comments, to be sure, but to say he hates them and to make a post about comments on posts seems a little premature.

      1. I don't blame them for trying to elevate the discussion, but Nick's tone may put some folks off.

    2. Comments are an interesting thing. People are still trying to figure out how to do it right. I think some of it is the audience, but I think what drives the comments is the community culture. The Book blog is much larger than the WGOM, but still has friendly comments, because the culture grew up around that and Tango is strict about his policing to keep it that way. If you can't play nicely, then you aren't welcome.

      1. Yeah, I think if you engage with the people who are being genuine and have a way of throwing out the trolls, you can go a long way. But it can be a fair amount of work and time. It also helps if you can start small and grow gradually.

    3. Nick's one of my favorite Twins bloggers, if not my favorite, but I can't think of an instance where taking website commenters to task for their comments has produced positive results. His tone is also a little overly aggressive in my opinion. I know that they're trying to build a true 'community' over there, but at the end of the day, a lot of these folks are still website commenters, and will adopt a tone as such. There's not much to be gained from this, and even though they've all been bloggers for years and years in their own space, this new site is still a new entity, and doesn't need one of its owners engaging in this sort of squabble.

      The whole thing is just a weird, unnecessary post.

      1. It is a weird post from Nick. I followed his blog the most of those that joined together, so surely he has to already be used to disparaging comments.

        1. I followed his blog the most of those that joined together, so surely he has to already be used to disparaging comments.

          Ah, so YOU were the guy!

      2. When you take into account that one of the inspirations behind Twins Daily was to re-create something of DTFC, the tone of the comments and Nick's post make more sense.

      2. Yeah, it hasn't been my favorite new thing, either. I was perfectly OK with visiting multiple sites.

        1. The only guy I liked reading from that group was Seth. I don't mind Geek, although I think he's wrong about a lot of things (i.e. I disagree with his opinions a lot) simply because I think he tries to be too clever.

          2. That extended drunken argument Geek had on the podcast with Gleeman a couple weeks ago regarding Baker and Pavano was a pretty good encapsulation of a lot of how I think about baseball (Gleeman) versus the opposite of how I think about baseball (Geek).

            1. i like the podcast, but that argument, regardless of the content, contained everything i don't like about it. the geek will get so flustered and out breath that it's painful to listen to, and gleeman can get so arrogant and condescending at times that i don't particularly care if i agree with him or not.

              1. I know people say this about him all over the internets, and this may actually reflect badly on me in some way, but I really think Gleeman hardly ever comes off as arrogant or condescending to my perception when I listen to those podcasts. If anything I think he allows Geek more leeway on his weird opinions than I'd like him to a lot of the time.

                1. heh, dude, he was saying something to the effect of him trying hard not to punch the geek in the face due to his persistence and folly of his argument. like i said, as far as the arguments go, i'm usually in gleeman's corner, and there's no question the geek is definitely the weak link in that podcast. i'm just saying that argument summed up the things i don't like about that podcast...

                  EDIT: "i'm usually in gleeman's corner" should read "i'm pretty much always in gleeman's corner".

                  1. Yeah, I didn't remember specifically the punch-threatening part. I do think when they recorded that one they were both considerably more under the influence than they usually are.

                2. Amazingly*, DK and I are in complete agreement. The time I spent chatting with Aaron and Stick at Hubert's before the first convention kicked off couldn't have been more of a pleasure.

                  * Not knocking you DK - just noting we often take different views of things.

                  1. No matter how often someone may normally have a different viewpoint than I do, I will never not enjoy hearing them say they agree with me completely on something.

        1. But with a large face protector, at least while batting. Burnett would have to wear it during pitching though, since there's no way to avoid a line drive that close.

  7. Just need to say, that I used the name before it was cool.
    /Shoulda Used BIR
    //Blue Ivy
    ///Is there a St Ivy?
    ////Or a St Blue?
    /////Would Hill St Blues count?

  8. I just watched the "highlights" of last nights' Wolves-Suns game. I had one question- whyinthehell was Ridnour defending Grant Hill? I guess there's probably not a good way to match Luke up on D with anyone on the Suns squad, but Hill posting up Luke for turnaround jumpers isn't a winning situation for the Wolves. There's a reason Hill scored 15 points in the second half.

      1. Whenever I hear or see the name Grant Hill, I always, always immediately say to myself "Grant Hill drinks Sprite." And presumably every time I say that an ad exec gets his wings.

      2. That's pretty much what my wife said when she saw his picture on the NBA game tracker. Well, that and, "He's still playing?".

        2. Who would have guessed it ten years ago? It is pretty amazing that he overcame all of the injuries. It should be noted that Phoenix is generally regarded as having THE BEST training staff in the NBA.

  9. Daily Disney World Uni Watch report, this time from Spookytown Hollywood Studios: more freakin' BoSox caps, but the Rays and Braves are putting on a surge, and my first Twins cap sighting! Little dude being carried by his dad while waiting for the park to open. Also spotted a Twins logo shirt on another little guy later on.

    As a note, I hate walking in crowds, whether it's packed or not. People do not know how to set a steady pace, and they definitely don't know how to stop anywhere but in the middle of the walkways.

    Note #2: DPW, I hope you don't have any seasonal allergies. Something in the air here is kicking my ass, and it isn't the usual suspect, oak.

    1. I saw quite a few Disney caps there. The Dodgers were a clear #1, and I don't remember the Red Sox having all that much of a footing.

      I played blackout bingo over the two days I was there, and ended up seeing 24 of the 30 caps.

  10. It's official: Expanded playoffs are a go for 2012. Division winners will be forced to start the Divisional Series with two games on the road in 2012, a clear example of "incentivizing winning the division."

    2. At least starting on the road is just for 2012. Why they couldn't wait until 2013, I don't know. I know, $$$, but two extra games isn't going to matter that much.

    3. I'm more okay with this (division winner on road excepted) than I thought I was going to be. Diluting the playoffs sucks, but I like the idea of two wildcard teams having to fight for it (and thus being at a disadvantage to play against the division winners).

      1. To illustrate how stupid the division winner on the road thing is, I hope the Yankmes and Red Sox have to play a one-game tiebreaker for the AL East championship, after which the Red Sox lose the Wild Card Championship to the Rays, who then go 2-0 up on the Yankmes and clinch the ALDS on the road with a sweep in Game 3 at New New Yankme Stadium.

        1. I read something to the effect that home teams have won 53-55% of playoff games, so it's probably not a big deal, though it feels wrong still.

        2. I completely agree, that's why the "excepted" was thrown in. I don't know why they needed to do it this way (why not just wait til next year? it seems that every other human being on the planet figured that out within 12 seconds). I just don't hate the idea of 10 teams as much as I thought I was going to. If you have to have a wild card, you may as well have two to make it disadvantageous.

              1. Yeah, that's one of the few positives I see--at least the Sawx and Yanks aren't forced to meet for the ALCS if both make the playoffs and advance.

  11. Heh. Let's just give every player on every team a participation medal and be done with it.

    1. in case you people missed the link, umm, it's awesome. I'm looking at you, Bootsy.

  14. Butch and I were watching basketball last night: both the Wolves and the state HS tournament. Butch, not an NBA guy (before this year), kept complaining about how terrible the HS game was. The Wolves game wasn't any good, either, but he was more willing to watch that crapfest than to watch the tournament.

    I should point out that earlier this fall I mentioned that I was starting to become worried that the lockout would kill the season, to which he replied, "Who gives a shit?"

    At the time, I was thinking, hey, I listen to you prattle on about NASCAR and I don't care about that, but I never say anything. I learned a while ago that (a) no sense in saying anything if he's crabby and (b) keep your powder dry. The next time he started talking about racing, I brought that up. I told him that I didn't give a shit about NASCAR, but I'd still listen to him anyway. He laughed.

    In the last month, I've seen him complaining about the quality of college basketball and HS basketball and the clicker always seems to end up on the NBA game. I have not said one word about this. But, I have enjoyed this tremendously.

    🙂

    Also, our viewing experience primarily revolves around (a) complaining when Pekovic doesn't get the ball and (b) cheering when he makes a play. It's a simple game, really.

  15. Gophers women hoopsters taking on Big Ten #1 seed Penn St on the BigtenNetwork right now

    1. Gophers lead at the half 36-29. They should have a bigger lead, but Penn St went on a mini run before the half

    2. pretty gutsy effort for the Gophers. the refs pretty much gave the gave to Penn St and only lost by a couple of points. They should be a pretty good team next year

  16. Because I am easily amused:

    You might imagine that JNRBM is a place where losers gather to celebrate their failures, kind of like Best Buy or Division III football. But JNRBM meets two important needs in science reporting: the need to combat the positive spin known as publication bias and the need to make other scientists feel better about themselves.

    1. So, is he for this journal or against it? I really couldn't tell. I thought he was giving the concept a thumbs-up until about halfway through, then I thought he was totally against it. It was all funny, though.

    2. And the Journal of Negative Results in Homeopathy is the entire field of homeopathy.

      Heh. (My wife sees a naturopath and has had positive results despite nearly-provable bogus reasons. I don't know what to think, but I don't argue anymore, just bite my lip.)

  20. I'm sitting 260 miles from my wife and daughter. It is 8:41 on a Friday night and I'm writing a report in my office. I'm in Exile, so to speak. I don't want to hear you talk about Jesus, I Just Want to See His Face.

  21. so, i was thinking i'd maybe check out what's going on with the wild tonight. 0-6 in the 3rd? nnnnnnnnnnnnnope.

      1. I haven't ever watched much hockey until this year, but I'm starting to confirm that some of my criticisms of basketball apply equally. Good to see, since in theory they're the same sport (+ soccer).

        Definitely baseball time.

    2. The 2010-11 Wolves went 17-65. The 2011 Twins went 63-99. The 2011 Vikings went 3-13 and lost AD in that last win with a killer knee injury. After a strong start, the Wild have completely fallen on their collective face.

      That's like the Grand Slam of Suck.

      1. Reusse had a good tweet about the Wild this morning

        Patrick Reusse ‏ @1500ESPN_Reusse
        Wild had 20 wins in 1st 30 games. It has 8 wins in past 34. Quite a feat in area of failure.

    3. I just noticed Gopher hockey got pounded at Mariucci by the mid-WCHA-table Badgers tonight, too.

    1. I mean, really, would suspending the entire coaching staff for the 2012 season be too stiff of a penalty? I say no.

    2. And hell, what about this?

      Trevor Pryce, a former defensive lineman for the Jets and the Ravens, said he did not believe the bounty system was as big a problem as Spygate.

      Intentionally injuring opponents is not as big of a problem as an elaborate sign stealing scheme? Really?

      1. A co-worker coaches youth football and this topic came up today as he is seemingly always wanting to talk football. Believe it or not he thought this was awesome.

      2. I say this is far worse than Spygate. Especially with the concussion concerns lately. Buddy Ryan famously had bounties out for players but I thought that was pretty much the end of it..I mean players probably had a pool or something, but coaches having bounties, yeah I thought that was gone.

        I bet the Saints are heavily punished for this. Loss of drat picks for sure. SI's Don Banks points out its not been a good week for Saints GM Mickey Loomis: first the Drew Brees negotiations stall out, now it comes to light the he pretty much endorsed the bounties and lies to the owner about having them stopped.

    3. Let's call a spade a spade. They deliberately hurt Brett Favre in the NFC title game. No question.

      1. That was clear at the time, yeah. It's why I stopped watching football, more or less.

        I just don't get the competitive part of that. The W is just as awesome against a bunch of scrubs as it is against the team you're supposed to be playing, I guess.

      2. You can also probably say Williams ended Peyton Manning's Colts career--the Redskins put one hell of a dirty hit on him that Dungy claimed earlier this year started his neck problems.

        Greggggg should be kicked out of the league.

    4. i dunno, i can't really say i'm shocked by this. in fact, i'd be surprised at anyone who actually is shocked by this. i'd go so far as to say if the saints get punished for this, and the NFL brushes off its hands and says thank goodness justice has been served, they're missing about 31 other teams that were guilty of this.

      2. I'm not shocked, either. But, it is still an outrage. When I started my old site eight years ago, I was banging the drum on the craptastic NFL.

        I hope the Vikings don't get a stadium. I wouldn't care one bit if they left. Not. One. Bit.

        2. The only reason I want the Vikings to get a stadium is so that Minnesota can get an MLS team.

          But here I completely agree with you that while it may not be shocking, it's completely outrageous. People die playing football--that teams would be encouraging players to injure other players is just grotesque to me. If this is accepted behavior, then all perspective has been lost.

  23. Daily Disney World uni update: while entering Epcot this evening, I struck up a conversation with a boy wearing a Rubio uni and his father. We exchanged pleasantries and compliments on Target Field and new Busch Stadium, and the TWolves season.

      1. I've kind of been mean lately. Sorry. I was at Busch Stadium this summer. There were a great many things to like about it.

            1. Also, I hit it on a trip this summer. I considered it #2 out of the 3 stadiums, and it wasn't really that far behind #1. It was just a couple of places where things look unfinished/cheap that stuck out to me. So basically, as I think about it, I rescind my former comment entirely.

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