152 thoughts on “December 19, 2012: Crunch Time”

  1. EAR and I are trying to get back into the "getting each other things for Christmas"
    When I finally go out, I'm hoping to find a Shel Silverstein book with a CD that she said she wanted to get for the kids.

    1. jane and i have landed on a no present system for christmas and birthdays (which are right on top of each other in jane's case). i gotta admit, i'm pretty okay with it.

      1. That's not likely to happen around here. Neither of us is obsessive about receiving gifts, but the Milkmaid is obsessed with giving them to me. There are certainly worse faults, I suppose.

      2. I've got to be honest. I like receiving gifts. I could always buy them for myself, so the actual receiving isn't the thing. It's more to do with seeing what people think I'd like (plus my brother-in-law almost always gives me video games that I've been on the fence on, which takes the decision out of my hands).

        1. I'm much more on the flip side. I like the challenge of giving gifts that are well-tailored to the recipients. Christmas lists are the bane of the season to me, as they attempt to preempt what should be a fun challenge for everyone.

          1. I do love giving gifts, too, but I want other folks to like and appreciate the gifts that I give, so it would just seem weird to not enjoy both sides of the process.

            1. Philosofette isn't the greatest gift giver in the world, so...

              I have a sister who's pretty killer at it too, and I enjoy receiving when she draws my name. The odds are 1 in 18 (13 kids + 7 spouses - herself and her husband), but either she or her husband have gotten my name like 4 of the last 5 years. It's been nice.

          2. I definitely prefer giving gifts to receiving gifts. I have very broad interests & hobbies in general, but I only really like very specific things within those broad spheres of interest. And those things that I do like, I usually end up getting for myself. So when people ask me what I want, it's hard for me to give much more than lists of things I want but haven't got yet. And that feels, to me, like telling them what to buy me. And doing that makes me feel ashamed and selfish. So, the receiving part is pretty stressful for me.

            1. This describes me as well.
              One year, I had to field a Q from my MiL regarding a baseball cap I put on my list (via my wife, who didn't know).
              "He says he wants a Twins Blue TC cap size 7 5/8. Would a 7 3/8 work, and does it matter if it has an all-star game patch on it?"
              No, yes. That particular cap was in the clearance bin at MLB.com, and I had seen it weeks earlier.

              This year, the in-Laws have decided on drawing names for the adults. (I got SiL, and EAR got BiL-to-be. We switched.) Also: a white elephant exchange for Christmas Eve.

              My unit at work has a white elephant exchange, and has had it going for three or four years. This year, I found a great book at the dollar store: Why Does My Cockatiel Do That?, and a similar volume Catfish (not about fishing but about keeping them in aquariums). Went to Half-Priced Books and landed What's Wrong With My Iguana? and All About Hermit Crabs. I'm quite satisfied. Rule is we've got to display them at our desks until some point in January.

    2. I have no problem giving or receiving gifts. I enjoy giving to others and I have learned to just say "Thank you" when others give to me, whether for Christmas, birthday, anniversary or just because. Otherwise, I'm just depriving them of the joy of giving. I learned a long time ago to leave behind all expectations and everything became a lot simpler. I don't mind making lists for Christmas because all of my relatives (outside of wife and kids) are out of state, so they really don't know what I have and need. Otherwise, I just end up getting gift cards, which has its benefits, but I think an actual gift shows more thought and care.

  2. If any of you are interested in some really unique jewelry for the significant other, Sheenie's cousin creates these (and was recently profiled in, of all places, British Vogue).

  4. Does anyone have a decent way to manage Twitter? I was more or less AFK all weekend, and Monday morning, I didn't know how far back to go or whatever.
    Pretty much everything I subscribe to has signal, but many are 80% to 90% noise, but that kernel of signal is worth keeping around.

    I'd love a way to manage Twitter like I manage my RSS feeds (via Outlook, which gives them inboxes, which I then group, so Rany and Pos go to the same place). I'd like to send each twitterer to a different sub-streams:
    Friends, Baseball writers, Baseball players, Musicians, Music writers, and Others.
    This way, when I get away from a computer for days, I could more quickly scan for important things, and delete the noise in big chunks.

    Musings:
    Is Old Hoss Radbourn a writer or a player?
    Should I break up players into Twins pitchers, Other Twins, Active former Twins pitchers, Other Active Former Twins, Active Royals, Retired pitchers, Other retired players, or do I need to break pitchers into Starters, Lefty relievers, Righty relievers, and Craig James?

    1. there is a 'Lists' page in the little cog icon by the search bar where you can sort your people into lists.

      I manage my Twitter feed pretty tight, only having about 100 people I follow (give or take 5) and if someone because a stream clogger or constant retweeter I unfollow

      Im pretty sure Old Hoss is a humorist or a writer. But only a handful of people really know.

    2. Not to rag on ballplayers or anything, but there's almost no way Old Hoss Radbourn is a player. He's too incisive. The list of players it could be has to be extremely small. It's got to be a writer.

    3. J used Silver Bird, I think, which is a Twitter add-on for Chrome. It would allow you to view your Tweets in-browser, but it would also save where you'd last viewed. This would allow her to come home from work and catch up from where she left off the night before. I've never used any of the Twitter clients (besides the apps I've used on my phones), but I wonder if any of them would allow you to sort better?

      I wish there was a way to ignore all Tweets that are items sent from Facebook or Pinterest or whatever. I have a couple people who post the same things in all their media feeds at the same time. It's really, really frustrating.

  5. Check this video out, eagle tries to snatch kid in Montreal. Real or fake whadya think?

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE0Q904gtMI&feature=player_embedded

    1. I think it's real, actually. Faked videos usually have the cameraman focused on the event, even if he should be doing something about what's happening. The cynic in me says that nobody would bother to pull out a camcorder in the first place just to take video of an eagle, but I'm not a bird guy, I guess.

      1. There's another video of the eagle and kid close up, frame-by-frame, claiming to have shown it to be fake.

        httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjOljUMc-Nc

        However, I'm not convinced by this one.

        1. Well, either someone put a lot of effort into a fake video for no reason, or someone put even more effort into a fake video made to debunk a real video. Either way, there's someone in this situation who might benefit from a more fulfilling hobby.

          1. Yeah, what I was seeing too. The wing thing gets me more than the "kid flies alone" (it's fabric, it gets caught on things when it gets torn, etc.) or the shadow.

            I guess we'll need an interview with the real people involved, huh?

            1. The francophone swearing was enough to blow it up real good for me. Everyone knows you can't swear in French.

                2. Hmmm, I've never seen that before. Looks like it's from the Matrix, but I don't recognize the French guy.
                  Maybe a scene they deleted because it was pompously stupid?
                  #LaLaLaLaFingersInEarsICantHearYou

        3. I'm not convinced by this that it's fake. And I bothered to look up some other stuff and there's apparently people claiming a suspicious shadow at 11 seconds (but that seems readily explained by quickly dropping bird of prey/trees/landscape factors) and a flick of the wing at 2 seconds that looks like it disappears. The wing one makes me wonder... but it seems like the kind of thing that wouldn't be missed by someone making a fake.

          And there's what appear to be really good physics with the bird slowing down, beating wings harder to resume speed/altitude, kid dropping, etc.

          1. Of course, I also wish I could turn off my rational brain and believe in Bigfoot (I can't, and don't... but I wish I could!)

        2. Osprey are fish-catchers. I'll venture that it's pretty damned unlikely one would pick up a child.
          To me, it appeared to be a juvenile bald eagle. Fits the Montreal location, too. (Could be Golden Eagles there, but much more unlikely.)
          But I didn't consider it deeply, just a quick impression.

          I find it a likely hoax b/c what's the likelihood that they're filming the eagle/osprey and then it picks up the child?

          Phil, that reminds me, I never replied to your hawk query via e-mail. I looked at my books and considered the options but never got back because some part of the life of a parent of four intervened.

          1. Yeah, the evidence is mounting that this is fake. What a waste of time to create something that, in the end, is only mildly interesting for a few minutes if true. Oh well.

          2. You should reply to my hawk query via e-mail.

            I've lately seen a number of black and white raptors that are clearly not red-tailed hawks. I haven't bothered to look 'em up yet.

            And the Snowy Owls were among the coolest things I've ever seen.

            2. Okay, I need to revisit my books.
              I think there were only two species it could reasonably be.
              (Three if it could still be an atypical-for-the-region color morph of the Red-Tail.)

          3. Reviewing too many times and I'm pretty certain it's a juvenile eagle, not an osprey. Who the hell is David Bird? Is he also a hoax?

            Just watching it here, there's a funny color issue to the bird, now 100% that it's a hoax, or that it's a real video that was edited to make it look like a hoax. (Meta-hoax!)
            httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TkEjcMMLqE

              1. So now I'm wondering if he's actually seen the video. I've now viewed several pages of Osprey photos, just to make sure I wasn't nuts. I'd say I'm 98% confident that it's an Eagle over an Osprey. (If it turns out it's a different raptor, made large, I'll count that as a push.)

                1. Yeah, that osprey identification was clearly inaccurate. I dismissed it after just a few photos. This size and build fit an eagle.

                  1. Yeah, I didn't think it was an Osprey either. He must have gotten his job as "bird expert" because of his name.

        1. I think the real genius is that they picked something that people wanted to be true (especially since the fake they set up had the kid be OK).

            1. Heh, DPWY don't got the Twitters?

              The whole Twitter thing really doesn't interest me, and I don't much care for Dadboner's stuff, but I recognized the name.

    1. It is interesting that he compares Koufax and Santana. Koufax had 165 wins in his career, Santana has 139 so far in his. The way things are going for him, he will be lucky to reach 165. But Johan's ERA+ career mark is 136, Koufax's 131. Santana's rWAR: 48.6; Koufax's: 50.3.

      1. also, this comment....

        Scott HowardDecember 19, 2012 4:07 PM

        Bert Blylevan getting in basically makes the Hall of Fame a joke as far as pitchers go. It is now the "Hall of consistently good on bad teams".

        Scott Howard does not know very much about baseball history.

      2. Sandy Koufax is an interesting case. Basically he had two careers. The first 6 years he was fairly pedestrian, lousy even. Then the last 6 years were out of this world. He's in the HOF basically on the back of those 6 years. I'd love to see his rWAR from 1955-60 and then from 1961-66.

        2. also, there's a source for that, free!

          year,rWAR, innings
          1955, 0.8, 41.2
          1956, -0.4, 58.2
          1957, 1.2, 104.1
          1958, 1.0, 158.2
          1959, 2.0, 153.1
          1960, 1.3, 175.0

          It should be noted, however, that Koufax was 19 in 1955, 24 in 1960. So, basically, he learned how to pitch in the Majors rather than the Minors.

          2. also, there's a source for that, free!

            I know but why do the work when I know you or Sean would do it for me.

          3. he learned how to pitch in the Majors rather than the Minors.

            Good thing for him since if he hadn't, he wouldn't have been eligible for the Hall of Fame.

            1. tru dat. I was just pointing out that several of those "lousy" seasons probably should/could have been spent learning the craft at AA or AAA. But Koufax was a bonus baby and never played in the Minors. (he played freshman baseball at Cincinnati, and was a varsity pitcher as a sophomore, going 3-1 with 51:30 K:BB in 31 innings, according to the Repository).

        3. B-R lets you sum over arbitrary years in several tables, including that one. Doing so says the split is 5.9 rWAR versus 44.4 rWAR. He did throw an additional thousand innings over the second half of his career, which adds a lot of value.

          1. that is cool!

            for example, Bert accumulated 41.7 rWAR during his first 7 seasons (ages 19-25), all with the Twins. Lop off his rookie year and go through 1977 (first full season in Texas) and the 7-year total is 45.2. Koufax accumulated 45.7 rWAR during his last 7 seasons.

    5. I'm going to pull an ubelmann chewing me out two years ago and say let's not go crazy about every thing we read on MLBTradeRumors.

    6. I've been okay with the guys the Twins have been picking up, on the theory that they even if they're building for the future, they need to have some semblance of a big-league rotation this year, too. However, I'm going to be disappointed it the rotation is Scott Diamond and four mediocre veterans. I want there to be room for Hendriks, DeVries, Deduno, etc. to get a chance, too.

      1. There will be room, just not necessarily in April. I fully expect at least some of the free agents to follow in the footsteps of Livan, Ortiz, and Ponson.

  12. I saw that I missed a discussion of mini caucus yesterday. I'm in the motherland from tomorrow through the 31st, but I'm not certain I'll be in the cities on any given day. I do know that we're planning a trip to summit to visit my college roomie who now brews there, so that could be a destination for a wgom drinks fest. This will likely happen sometime over the week between christmas and new years.

    1. i believe this is where we left it:

      Dude 22 23 24 25 26 27
      DPWY X X X
      freealonzo X X X X
      hungry joe X X
      CoC X X
      sean X
      AMR X
      Algonad X

      i dunno, the 22nd looks mighty good, you guys...

      1. Summit Brewery destination sounds good to me!
        Slight modification - Not available: 23/24, Available: 27/28/29 if you add those days to the grid
        Also - I'm only available after about 5 pm throughout but we should pick a time that works best for most and I realize evenings can be tough.

        1. I updated for the 23rd and 24th, but did not add the 28th or 29th. My original thought was that is sufficiently far away from Christmas that people will likely be available.

          1. Cool. I didn't mean to say that you should add them, just putting it out there in case you did.

  13. Big League Stew ranks MLB GMs by sex appeal. TR comes in 21st.

    This is a great picture of him, and he's got a Jean-Luc Picard thing going on, but he's your grampa. And unless your grampa was Charlton Heston or Jack Palance or Paul Newman, he probably wasn't sexy. Possibly the nicest man in the league, though.

    2. Well, I knew what approximately three of those guys looked like.
      GMTR, Ca$hmaNY, and Billy Beane (because of the book he wrote).
      My guess for Jocketty would have been close. Maybe too Huntington. (Helps that the Pirates GM is blonde.)
      I still know what GMKW looked like when he was GMKW and not VPKW, but this GMRH guy for the Sox is a name without a face for me.

  14. Hoping someone in the Nation can come through for me here...
    I'm looking for a lasagna recipe. Ideally something easy (especially to shop for, though ease of making is nice too), such that it can be prepared in advance and just be reheated for Christmas Eve meal at the in-laws. And/or other suggestions for easy meals for a fair sized crowd (12 adults and some number of children) that can be similarly prepared. I understand there will be chicken-fried rice served as well.

    1. I do a baked Zito ziti that likely fits the bill. My version is loosely based on something like this. At step 5, simply refrigerate rather than bake...then, bring to room temp before baking or add 5-10 minutes(?) to the bake time. I used 1.5 #'s of meat (1# ground beef, 1# ground pork) and the whole box of ziti noodles - ended up with two 8x11 pans worth. Probably not enough to feed 12 adults + kids, but gets you a long way in the right direction.

      1. Yup, that'll do it. I usually try to be a bit on the fancy side for these kinds of events, but since posting the request I've surfed around and decided to not even worry about it. I'll buy a good marinara and use some fresh herbs and count on that to do the trick. Thanks!

        1. If you're looking for a store-bought sauce that's good, honestly the Giada sauces they sell at Target are pretty good. The tomato basil one is the best sauce I've ever had out of a jar.

            2. The Barilla is good, too. And while it's zero help to most of you, the President's Choice brand they sell at Loblaws stores in Canada is pretty excellent as well.

          2. I stumbled upon Francesco Rinaldi sauce last week (had a coupon, and it was on sale, so it cost me like 50 cents). I have to buy that stuff again.
            I'll have to try the Giada stuff too

            1. If that is the brand I'm thinking of, a big yes. The stuff usually sells for less than $1.50/bottle here at my grocer. No HFCS, good flavor. The Girl eats a lot of it.

    2. Tuscan shrimp with white beans
      any number of delicious meat recipes

      green chile chicken and a burrito bar

      chili

      italian vegetable soup (root vegetables, peppers, onions, garlic, green beans, kale, cooked in a generous half-cup of extra virgin olive oil, a large can of crushed tomatoes, a tsp of crushed red pepper flakes, and a tsp of dried oregano; variations on the theme including italian sausages are encouraged) and crusty bread.

      1. I'm going for "minimal prep at our place (since we've got to get all the presents, kids, clothes, etc. packed along too) and bring along." Seafood is right out with the in-laws. Just made chicken enchiladas based on the green chile suggestions last week (couldn't find green chile at Cub... seemed odd. Used a straight-up enchilada sauce (red), worked well). I'm never ok with a blase chili so I spend far too much time prepping peppers and such, so that's out. Soup invites non-plate dishes which won't be appreciated.

        I'm tough, huh?

        2. the mrs makes a black bean casserole (layers of flour tortillas, cheese, salsa, black beans, etc.) that cooks up like a lasagna. I could get you that recipe. Easy, cheap, colorful, filling. Can be garnished as people like.

          1. I think I'll go with the Ziti this time, but I'm intrigued by this. And I've got the other side of the family coming up a week later... E-mail? mbnovaksju at sign yahoo.

        1. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves. Lightly season and brown. Throw in crock pot (turned on). Pour can of green enchilada sauce over. Cover and walk away. Come back in evening, shred chicken. Defat sauce if necessary, reduce to thicken if necessary. Enjoy.

          1. Lately we've been using boneless, skinless thighs - harder to find but much more flavorful than chix breasts.

  17. the ESPN NBA game on right now is Brooklyn at New York Knicks. Do these teams play each other every week? And is the game always the national game?

  18. This just in. Mayan calendar confusion. World doesn't stop. It just goes on Pause for 27 minutes.

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