71 thoughts on “March 10, 2015: Friday Again”

  1. I'd been struggling with my bowling recently, but I got it back again last week and yesterday had my best day of the season. I went 158, 173, 191 for a 522 series, my fourth 500 series of the season. I've always considered a 500 series to be pretty good for an amateur bowler, so to do it four times in a season makes me feel pretty good. The difference, it always seems, is picking up spares. If I can do it, I do well. If I can't, I don't.

  2. I guess it shows how little attention I pay to the NBA that I'm still surprised when I'm reminded there's a team called the Pelicans.

    1. What a curious bird is a Pelican
      His bill can hold more than his belican
      He could take in his beak
      Food enough for a week
      But I'll be damned if I see how the helican.

        1. And now I see it's a poem that I, and thousands of others, have been misattributing to Nash. Well, the author had to be a fan.*

          * - unless he came first, in which case, I'll just go quietly

        2. I changed the words a bit to my liking.
          For some reason "curious" appeals to me more than "wonderful".

          Merritt's wikipedia entry is basically that he's remembered for this one limerick.

  3. This morning I got concerned that the peperoncino was saying White Sox. Then I realized he was just asking for Rice Chex.

    1. [edit]I didn't like how that read, I was a bit flippant this morning, but also BOO Pale Hose [/edit]

  4. Spoiler Alert: I have it on good authority that Belle and Sebestian will be announced as one of the Rock the Garden bands.

  5. My birdcage liner told me this morning that DSPAN had surgery on a "core" muscle and is going to miss the opener.

  6. Important baseball question: when a young player slides into home, would he more likely be sliding feet first or head first?

    1. I am pretty sure head first sliding was not allowed when I was in Little League. Therefore, I think sliding feet first will be more likely. It looks like in Juniors head first sliding is allowed, but that is for 13 and 14.

    2. Yes, regardless of league rules, I would never have a player that young slide in headfirst. They don't know how to protect their hands, head and neck from injury and often slide too late so they come in real hard. They should always slide feet first. But, yes, in Little League, if they slide headfirst, they'll be automatically called out. I think the only exception is if they get a lead off a base and a throw comes in behind them and they are reaching for the base.

      1. Related to this question, I got into a rather vehement discussion with a not-very-baseball-savvy coworker who was insisting it was fine to depict a player sliding into first base. I've learned enough from my time hanging around here that I simply would not yield on that point, and it was changed to home plate.

          1. Can slide in to first on a pickoff.
            But I don't know at what level things like that are done.

  7. My wife just learned she'll maintain her employment with the local retail giant.
    She'll learn tomorrow whether her recent promotion will be retained or rescinded.
    My counter-offer was rejected so I took what they offered & start my new gig tomorrow.
    I need a drink.

    1. Stressful things coming to good-enough conclusions?
      Congrats on having that more or less behind you and starting the new gig.

    2. sorry and congrats. Negotiating with gubmint agencies for civil service positions often seems to consist of taking-or-leaving offers.

      1. Thank-you...I've definitely learned that. The manner in which HR determines scales/steps/etc. is obfuscation squared and feels completely arbitrary. Even worse, Directors & hiring managers seem to have no (or little) interest in expending the capital necessary to get a competitive offer since they've a ready supply of secondary and tertiary (and so on and so on) candidates who'll accept whatever comes their way. Seems a less than ideal system, but what do I know? I've only been a civilian gubmint employee for about five months.

        1. I suspect I'm going to be running into this at some point in the not-distant (but not immediate... I'm going with "take it") future.

  8. quasi-snarky and forbidden zoney:

    Emailgate SelectShow
  9. Hey, SBG, you should sign up to go to this!!!!1111one1111!!!!!

    Also, heads up to the Administrators, but there's an excellent cuppa image in that story. You might consider nicking it for the rotation.

    1. Horrible information on a story previewed at that link...

      Tim Burton ... is attached to helm a live-action remake of Disney's "Dumbo," the animated classic about a floppy-eared pachyderm[.]
      Burton, who previously directed Disney's billion-dollar hit "Alice in Wonderland," will work from a script by Ehren Kruger, a writer on the last three "Transformers" movies. The "Dumbo" remake is in the early stages of development and doesn't yet have a release date, but it's expected to use a combination of live actors and CGI.

      1. The "Transformers" had writers? Like "Boom! Unintelligible five-minute action sequence at street level entering cafe or maybe it's a dry-cleaners?"
      2. I've liked most Burton movies I've seen. Not "Alice" though.
      3. Please finish milking the human-starring Disney films with live-action recreations first. I see a "Cinderella" is coming. A destruction of "Snow White" is surely in the works. Give "Bambi" and "The Great Mouse Detective" another decade or so to get the CGI better.
      4. Will it stick with the 63-minute running time of the original? I'd love to see someone have the confidence to do that!
      5. I could see "Pink Elephants" being a redeeming point.
      6. This is going to be the worst thing ever. And "Baby Mine" will still probably make me teary.
      7. They probably won't re-use any songs except maybe creepy remakes by the Lana Del Rey analogue found five years in the future.

      1. A destruction of "Snow White" is surely in the works.

        Hasn't this been done a couple of times already?

        Oh, I guess those were "re-imaginings" or some such.

        1. Non-Disney films: sure. But I'm talking about things like Maleficent and Burton's Alice, Disney remakes with their versions of the characters remade and ruined.
          Glenn Close in 101 Dalmatians worked well, but I think those two I mentioned others stunk.

          1. There are literally a hundred billion kajillion quintillion versions of Alice. The same company, decades apart, made two versions. The two have nothing to do with one another.

              1. Well yeah, I guess I may have oversold the connection.
                Point is: two of my least favorite movies of the last decade have come out of this "Disney making live-action versions of its previously animated titles".

                As penance, I watched "Grimm's Snow White" last night on Netflix, which features no dwarves, but six elves (couldn't add one more?) of extra-terrestrial (?) origin and man-eating dragons and...

                Actual Spoiler SelectShow

                I enjoyed it more than "Maleficent" or Burton's "Alice".

                  1. No, I'm not being hard enough! It's an abomination! It was not an OK kids movie!
                    It was horrible in every single facet! (Except visual, costuming, sets, digital effects, whathaveyou: it looked great!)

  10. Hey Yickit I walked the dog down your block this evening. Is your house the one with the life size Brian Dozier cut out on the front porch?

    1. No but that cutout scared the cr@p out of me the other morning. Now I know its just the friendly neighborhood Dozier. And I approve.

    1. D'oh! I haven't had to worry about anyone spoiling Wild scores here in quite a while...thanks nibs.

  11. Huh. NDSU wins another big game and will be dancing again despite losing 70% of their scoring and their coach. It's almost like they have a culture of winning.

  12. so, I made this vegan jambalaya recipe tonight. It was excellent.

    But before meat gets all up in my tofu, I will say that what really made the dish for me (but not for The Girl) was the pound of longaniza that I pan-fried on the side. I cut some up and added a spoonful of the fat and some of the crispy goodness from the pan to my portion of jambalaya. Numnum.

    Actually, it was a variation on the recipe above.

    1 large onion, diced
    3 ribs celery, diced
    1 green bell pepper, diced
    1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, diced
    3 cloves garlic, chopped
    a dozen or so cherry/grape tomatoes (more to taste; this is what I had on hand)
    3 bay leaves
    1/2 tsp anise or fennel seeds
    1 tbsp smoked paprika
    2 cups brown rice
    1-2 tsp hot sauce
    1 tbsp Worchestershire (omit if you are going vegan all the way; keep the vegan out of the kitchen when adding otherwise)
    1 quart good vegetable stock

    I made this in my cast iron dutch oven. Any heavy pot will do.

    saute the trinity for a few minutes to soften with a 1/2 tsp kosher salt, add the garlic and the anise/fennel seed and bay leaves and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Add the smoked paprika and the brown rice. Saute for another 5 minutes or so, stirring frequently. Add the quart of stock, slowly, then the Worchestershire and hot sauce, stirring. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover for 20-30 minutes or until done (check and stir after 20 minutes then every few minutes thereafter so that you don't end up burning the bottom). It should be damp but not soupy. Let rest for 4-5 minutes off the heat. Serve with chopped cilantro. And cold beer.

    the anise/fennel seeds add a little hint of sausage flavoring to the mix.

    1. oh, sweet jesus. I'm going to have to post the calculator to fix what damage you've done here doc. If you need to 'toast' your rice you'll have to do it in a separate pan because you need the liquid at a heavy boil when you add the rice to ensure a good 'pop'. Don't even get me started on the meatlessness of this. OMG. /whichever emoji works your leaver.

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