60 thoughts on “December 10, 2019: MadBum”

  2. My great-nephew Talon finished fourth in the bareback riding competition in the Junior National Finals Rodeo with a score of 70.5. Through the luck of the draw, he got a bad horse that hardly bucked at all. He rode it well, but it's impossible to get a high score with that sort of horse. It seems to me that he should have been offered a re-ride, but I don't know that much about rodeo, so maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, fourth place is still pretty darn good, and we're very proud of him.

  3. Anyone watching Watchmen on HBO? It is terrific. Sunday was a show about time shifting and could have been very confusing but was pulled off flawlessly.

    1. I'm only four episodes in right now, but I like it a lot. I was curling all weekend, so I'm hoping to be able to get caught up this weekend.

      1. I only vaguely know anything about the comic through reading the wikipedia entry on it, but that doesn't seem to be causing any problems with my enjoyment of the show. It is also completely different than the Snyder-verse movie version, which is a very good thing.

      2. The movie was a really good presentation of the graphic novel -- this miniseries is new material loosely based on the graphic novel's universe, so I don't think you're going to miss out on a lot, but the graphic novel isn't a bad read in any case if you have the time.

      3. The source material is ... good. Great characters, with a pretty good story.

        I feel like it was one of those things that was so hugely influential that a lot of the really good parts have found their way into so many other things. So when it gets read now it doesn't have that wow factor that made it so important when it was first published.

        This is probably doubly true with the artwork, but also story-wise.

        Actual Spoiler SelectShow

              2. Oh there is a long list of items (cultural, culinary, political, spiritual...) where I'm out of the lame-stream thinking.

                2. I got your back, free. I found the ending of the movie - as well as the rest of the movie - to be much worse than the novel. The TV show is great so far, however.

                3. Oh there is a long list of items (cultural, culinary, political, spiritual...) where I'm out of the lame-stream thinking.

                  Including your hatred of Sierra Nevada torpedo...... ....../winks

      4. There are a couple of good 15 minute youtube videos that gives you the back story on Watchmen that would help if you want to wade into the HBO series with some knowledge. As Runner said, the HBO series basically is in the same universe as the Graphic Novel with the HBO events basically 35 years after those events.

  4. I haven't given a winter baseball update for a while, partly because I've been busy but partly because there just hasn't been much going on. Neither Jonathan Cheshire nor Randy LeBlanc has played for some time, which means the only Twins action going on is in the Australian League.

    Logan Wade is batting ,239/.250/.435 in 46 at-bats.
    Aaron Whitefield is batting .370/.420/.522, also in 46 at-bats.

  6. I'm a yes on the money for pitchers.

    A huge part of that for me is just how much value the Twins organization holds, and how much it has developed recently. 2015 Forbes pegged the team as worth $895 million. April of 2019 was $1.2 billion. That's more than $300 million of growth. Or $75 million per year.(https://www.forbes.com/teams/minnesota-twins/#2fb601773bae)

    It's likely to take a bump next year too. And FWIW 2019 payroll was also down about $30 million.

    So yeah, a 9 figure contract is a big expense. But if they craft it carefully, front-load some of the money while they've got a relatively cheap roster, and spread it out over 6 or 7 years... $100 million over 6 years is $16 million per year. Assuming they keep the rest of payroll the same and this is a straight addition, we're talking about them lowering their profit from about $75 million to $60 million per year.

    For a publicly supported entity, I have no problem with that. I wouldn't want them to do it all the time (ala the Phillies), but every once in a while they absolutely should splurge.

    Heck, Cole at $300 million over 9 years would be fine to me too. Yeah, the profit would be $45 million per year, all other things being equal. But I doubt they'd be equal - a team with Cole is going to grab a few more eyeballs, a better TV piece, more playoff games, etc.

    1. I think I prefer they go with two $10 million pitchers. I think one of the two would outperform Bumgarner and the other would end up in the bullpen. I'm just not convinced that Bumgarner is that good.

      1. Plus, Baumgarner seems like a dick.

        I'd have been happy if they gave Cole all the money, though.

          1. In the way that he’ll go 10 in game 7, or that he’ll eventually be hard to listen to as a color guy?

      2. Oh, I'm with you on that. But gate receipts are only $64 million/year. So... cut tickets in half and then sign the most expensive players. Basically, cheap said it better.

      3. Heck, I’m not convinced anyone has a reasonable need to make in a month what the lowest salary person in their organization makes in a year.

        But, if baseball makes the money it apparently makes, then the players should be getting well over 50% of the take. They’re the ones giving the entire enterprise value; nobody’s paying admission to watch executives wrangle a corporate sponsorship for the roped-off club for the swells.

    4. It's like old times again. The Mystery Team has rejoined the conversation.

  7. I’m laid up with a broken fibula, as many of you probably know from FB. I’m getting a bit isolated and weird. Well, more of those things.

    Last night I found out that the guy who ran the film company I was tied up with in Yakima is under investigation for statutory rape and general Harvey Weinstein-ing over more than a ten-year period. It’s a gigantic kick in the teeth. I’ve remained friends with him all this time but I don’t expect to ever talk to him again. I hate the business so damned much.

    1. Wow. I'm not sure what else to say. It's strange to think you know someone and then find out you really don't know them at all.

      1. I slipped through the cracks when this all started happening in September - two of the people most closely connected to the investigation thought I was on the other’s list to contact, so I only just found out. One of those two is Josh’s best friend, who I spoke to for twenty minutes last night. As hard as it hit me, it completely broke him. He told Josh never to contact him, and has become one of the main points of contact for the women and girls affected.

        Josh was always a “locker room talk” kind of guy but it all seemed to fall well short of this, but then, of course I would have no perspective on this. The Milkmaid was an extra in a few things we did, and he would make dirty jokes about her, but he publicly did this kind of thing all the time and it was seemingly harmless fun.

        It’s also come out that he filmed some of these encounters and used the tapes to force quiet. He used his position to get what he wanted, sometimes investing 5-6 months in a girl by extending the project, and made it seem like her career hinged on this next step. Then he secretly filmed everything and held that over them.

        Of course, he wasn’t smart enough to keep all his indiscretion out of texts. So the threats are all there. He’s lamely trying to claim everything was consensual right now, but the evidence has got him in a world of shit. He’s done.

      1. Nailed the reference. And I was subtle!

        Cruel fate: I watched that episode with the Milkmaid, going as far as to seek it out intentionally because I love it, one day before the break.

    3. I am so sorry to hear about the injury and the Harvey connection. What a punch in the gut. It sucks when someone you work with turns out to be a dirt bag. As many of you probably know, the business I am in is littered with examples of losers who take advantage of their position. I once worked for a chain that had a Vice President who preyed upon young, pretty servers in various locations. He was engaged and his fiance would often call my location asking if he was there. He would force us to lie to her, as often he was having a drink at the bar with a young female employee. I lost several great employees due to the jerk, and eventually I stood up to him and told him I was done dealing with the fallout. About a month later I was fired (only time in my life) and given an unusually generous severance package (wonder why). Anyway, the first few months I worked for him I really liked him and he really knew the business well. Turned out he was a piece of work.

      Back to you - I hope everyone around the situation realizes that you were unaware and your reputation remains intact. What a crappy situation for all involved!

  8. Oof. My phone was not responding to touch this morning. I tried to do a forced power cycle. Instead, it rebooted everything. Never asked any questions or gave any warning. All photos, contacts, etc. Poof!

    Samsung phone, Verizon service, nothing backed up, apparently (I thought I had some things backed up through google, but it seems not). Wee.

  9. Reminder that JMWVGABB.

    The game.

      1. I couldn't tell you how often I type an LTE with "Well,____" at the beginning, then go back and take the "well" off.

  12. Nibs/Zoom -

    Gonna be in Alexandria the night of the 20th/day of the 21st for my kid's Lego League tournament. Unlikely I'd be able to slip away except for maybe late on the 20th for a quick drink or something (I mean, I'm the coach, so... I probably have to be there). But thought I'd throw it out there, just in case. Otherwise, I'll just wave at you as we drive by.

    1. Hey Philo - Just saw this. I may be up to meeting up if it ends up being in the cards for you to do so. Keep me posted. You can call me at the joint if you want, or if you have Nibs celly, he has my number and we can coordinate through him.

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