Tag Archives: featured

The Best of [everything] … or at least most mentioned

December 30, 2015 Can of Corn 33 Comments

Fun aggregation: essentially, "The Best of [everything] - 2015" ranked according to number of mentions on critic's year-end best-of lists. You could probably go further with it, ranking according to average placement on lists, but for CoC purposes, this is more than enough info:

Top Threes

Movies:
Carol - 82% of lists
Spotlight - 77%
Inside Out - 73%
Mad Max: Fury Road - 73%

Television Shows:
Master of None - 83% of lists
Fargo - 83%
Mr. Robot - 75%
Mad Men - 75%

Books:
Between the World and Me - 80% of lists
A Little Life - 60%
The Story of the Lost Child - 60%

Albums:
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly - 100% of lists
Vince Staples, Summertime ’06 - 63%
Carly Rae Jepsen, Emotion - 63%

And just for fun, because we at the WGOM are so hip, tied for fourth place are few the Citizenry crowed about this year:

Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit - 58%
Joanna Newsom, Divers - 58%

Parentgood

Отцы и дети, or A Dad Named Sue

December 17, 2015 CarterHayes 27 Comments

I had two dads and four grandfathers when I was growing up. Sometimes keeping everyone straight was an adventure. I share the same first name with my dad and his dad, which lead to sometimes-comical attempts by one family member to get the right one of us to respond. While I was never put out by this, it did impress on me the importance of names. When I was about twelve I chose a different nickname than the one my dad and his dad use, which caught on with some – but not all – of the family. I even have relatives who still call me a diminutive form of my nickname that I stopped using in elementary school. Now that I’m old enough, I find being called that name endearing.

For many years, I called both of the men who raised me “Dad.” When we finally became close in adulthood, my stepdad became “Pa.” That development came around the same time that I began mending my relationship with my dad (who, contrary to my WGOM shorthand, I never called “Pops”). I don’t think it’s a coincidence this distinction between them emerged during the time when I was establishing a healthy, adult relationship with each of my dads.

With four grandfathers the naming convention challenge multiplied. My grandfathers though remarriage were both “Grandpa” – one “Grandpa Lastinitial” and the other “Grandpa ~~SurLast~~Familyname.” My maternal grandfather was “Papa,” as his parents were still “Oma” and “Opa” to my generation of the family. My paternal grandfather, the only one of my grandfathers still living, is “Gramps.” (In fact, he’s the Gramps-iest Gramps to ever Gramps: a baseball-loving, Buick-driving, Cold War Navy vet who taught high school business & sold shoes. He likes burnt toast, black coffee, and Winstons. He doesn’t drink much anymore, but when I was a kid, he drank Schmidt. Before that, it was North Star.)

Mrs. Hayes & I are both third-generation Americans, our families heavily Americanized but still aware of our ethnic heritage. Papa’s third language was English, which he learned when he went to elementary school; he spoke German & Hungarian at home. My mom & her sisters get by in German to varying degrees. I speak just a little German, but understand a little bit more. To my dismay, we’ve lost the Hungarian. The other side of my family lost its Polish & German even quicker. Mrs. Hayes’ family has held on to their Greek heritage a bit better, mostly thanks to the ethnic dynamics of Orthodox Christianity. While nobody speaks much Greek in her immediate family, the culture’s customs are observed to varying degrees and greetings & blessings are still given in Greek.

Our child’s language acquisition is a priority for both of us. Mrs. Hayes & I both agree on what we would choose for a super power: the ability to speak other languages fluently. Our hope is to have her learn bits of a few languages: Greek and Russian (to communicate with my best friend’s family) for certain, and then whatever we can manage or build beyond that. I would love to send her to an immersion school if we have the opportunity, though that’s many years down the road.

But in the next two month I have a very personal decision to make. Who am I going to be to this little person? Figuring out my new name has consumed my thinking recently. What name do I choose? We agreed on a name for this child for nearly a decade ago. What I never considered is that I'd need to settle on a new name for myself, too.

Because I lost both my dads when they were fairly young, I don’t feel comfortable assuming either of their names in a couple months. At the same time, because we've functionality lost our mother tongues, I wonder if I have the right to claim a non-English name aligned with my child’s ethnic heritage. Do I become Apu, Vati, Tata, or Μπαμπάς? Do I choose Папа, given that’s drawn from the foreign language I speak best and hope to pass on? I honestly don’t know what’s right. But I know whatever I choose has to last two lifetimes.

How did you decide who you were going to be to your child(ren)? Has that name become as much a part of your identity as your given name?

If you speak (or wish you spoke) another language, how did you go about integrating that language into your child(ren)’s life?

Finally, this one goes out to my dads:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmt7wo0Tnr8

First Monday Book Day

Monday Book Day: Re-Reads

December 14, 2015 Daneekas Ghost 80 Comments

Apologies for missing the first Monday.

I finished the Great Vonnegut (Re)-Read of 2015 by finishing his last novel, Timequake, right at the end of November. When I decided to read all of Vonnegut's novels, Timequake was the one that I was most interested in re-reading. I read it in 1997 when it was first published and I was in 10th grade. And I don't think I got it. I had always been perplexed when people have good things to say about the book because I thought it was my least favorite book of his. So, I was very interested in what my reaction would be to it this time around, moreso than any of the other books. (One nice thing about that being that it served as a very nice motivator to keep the project going, I had to get to Timequake to see how it had changed for me).

This time around, I loved it. I'm not going to argue that it's a great novel. It's half of a novel at best. But if you spend time with Vonnegut, especially post-Breakfast of Champions Vonnegut, this book is a near perfect epilogue to his career. Through this whole year I got the perspective that I was missing back in 1997. The payoff to the project was pretty good.

This summer, I got in a friendly argument with my Dad about re-reading books. He refuses to do it, using the "there's too many books I haven't read out there and not nearly enough time to read them all" argument. He could not understand why I would choose to re-read all of Vonnegut's novels or start The Wheel of Time over from the beginning when the final three books started coming out. So I went back and looked through my reading spreadsheets and found that I really don't re-read very much. I feel like that's the majority opinion, most people feel like they don't read enough and so why spend time reading something again? But the effect of my Vonnegut re-read is making me question that a little bit. There are books that I've said I'd like to go back and spend some more time with (2666 is the one that leaps to mind), but I don't know that I ever would have. Now I'm reconsidering a little bit. Maybe that will be a project for a future year. Re-read one book per month that I've wanted to revisit? Could be interesting.

So, do you ever re-read? Never re-read? What books would you revisit if the feeling struck you?

Games

The Games We Play: Christmas Gift Ideas!

December 9, 2015 punmanbowler 14 Comments

Ah, it's that magical time of year when we rush to the mall to get our favorite gamer friend/spouse/child/grandma a new game to unwrap on Christmas morning. Philo asked me to put together a list of some good game ideas. I haven't played all of these, but I've heard good things. Anything with a * is one I have not played.

Party Games:

Codenames* - One of the hottest items discussed on Dice Tower and BoardGameGeek is this great new party game. Played in teams, one person on each team is trying to get his teammates to pick the right cards, which lay in a grid of 5X5. It's Password, but better.

Spyfall - Played with a group of people, everyone draws a card. All the cards except one have the name of a location on them (same location), one cardholder is the spy. The people with the location card have to root out the spy by asking questions to the other players to make sure they know where they are. They spy is trying to figure out where they are, without looking too out of place.

Say Anything - Similar to Balderdash, the reader asks a question, everyone else writes down their answers, then everyone tries to reason out what everyone put.

Telestrations - Think telephone meets Pictionary. First person gets a phrase, they have to write down a picture of what that phrase is, next person looks at the picture, and comes up with a phrase. The weirder the phrase, the funner this gets.

Wits and Wagers - Trivia games are fun, but it's much more fun when people don't know the precise answer, but try to get close. Ask a question, everyone writes down their answers, then make bets as to which one is the closest to the right one.

Modern Day Classics

Ticket To Ride - One of the first modern board games I played. Still great fun, especially with kids. Start the game by selecting tickets with route between two cities. Next, collect cards to be able to place trains on the various train paths to complete your route.

Settlers of Catan - Build your settlements and cities and roads in between. Gather wood, ore, grain, brick and sheep (baaa) to build more and more and get to 10 points first!

Carcassonne - Classic tile laying game. Draw a tile, place it on the board, place your meeple to get points for your roads, castles, cloisters, and farms.

Dominion - The game that started the term "Deckbuilding." Build up your deck with money cards, kingdom cards, and victory point cards. Also has about 10 expansions you can add to it.

Cooperative

Shadows Over Camelot - Co-op game in the setting of King Arthur. Search for the holy grail, Excalibur, and Lancelot's Armor. Fight the black knight and the deadly dragon. Fend off the Picts and the Saxons. And most of all, watch out for the traitor in your midst.

Pandemic - The world is a sick place, and it's your job to find the cure. Race across the world searching for the cure, while treating the deadly diseases. Also, for a longer, deeper adventure, try the new Pandemic Legacy*

Forbidden Island / Forbidden Desert - Putting these together since they're similar, but still very different. You're working together to find four items and get away before the island sinks, or the desert overtakes you. GREAT with kids

Adventure

Dead of Winter* - I've been pining to play this for over a year now. I don't know much about it other than it's cold outside, and zombies are lurking around every corner. Everyone also has their own agenda, but still trying to work together

Mice and Mystics - Wonderful adventure game that is kid friendly. Your kingdom has been taken over, and to escape, you and your friends have been turned into mice. Escape through sewers and basements and kitchens. Has a campaign mode that takes you through an entire story. Also has many expansions.

Descent: Journeys In The Dark* - I've heard a lot about this one. Plays similar to M&M, I think.

Personal Favorites - These are games that are my personal favorites, but sometimes tastes can differ, so just warnin' ya.

Castles of Burgundy - The first time I played this, I knew I had to have it. You're placing tiles (buildings, mines, animals, castles, etc) on your board (estate). You get points, bonuses, goods to ship, etc. Great for couples (so I've heard)

Trajan - Same designer as Castles. A Mancala-esque mechanic drives this game. You're trying to ship goods, influence the Senate, gain territory, all in the name of getting victory points.

Terra Mystica - Area control game that doesn't involve fighting. Take control of one of 14 races (20 with the expansion) and stake your claim. Build dwellings, trading posts, temples, strongholds and sanctuaries. Send your priests to the cult track, and build your engine to build the most magnificent empire ever. (Judged on victory points)

Lords of Waterdeep - Worker Placement game in a Dungeons and Dragons setting. You play a Lord of the city of waterdeep, recruiting warriors, rogues, wizards and clerics to do your bidding, to gain favor and.... wait for it.... victory points.

Splendor - You are a gem collector trying to be the best and most prestigious in the land. Buy mines to help you get more gems which help you get more gems and points. Incredibly quick to learn and teach.

These are some of my favorite and most talked about games right now. Let me know if you have questions about any other types of games.

Also, what have you been playing lately?

Friday Music Day

FMD: So long, 2015! (GUEST DJ SIGNUP)

November 27, 2015 hungry joe 45 Comments

Well cats and kiddos, we're wrapping up another year of the sheep (or goat, depending on how your own year went). As such, we got some guest DJing that needs to be done:

First up, we need a new crop of DJs for weeks next year. Let us know below in the comments, and we'll follow our normal methodology.

Also, December will be for the BEST OF 2015. Everyone who wants one will get a day to showcase their favorite music of the past year. We'll throw everyone in a pool and fill out a calendar in a little bit here.

And finally, feel free (he likes it) to drop your lists below.

DEADLINE IS NEXT FRIDAY
(not for your lists. you can go ahead and do that now.)

2016 Guest DJ Volunteers
nibbish
freealonzo
AMR
Pepper
cheaptoy
Rhubarb_Runner
DK
Daneekas Ghost
MagUidhir
Twayn
Philosofer
Zack
E-6
CarterHayes
Can of Corn
spookymilk
davidwatts
New Britain Bo

Best of 2015 Volunteers
hungry joe
freealonzo
nibbish
AMR
Pepper
cheaptoy
Rhubarb_Runner
Beau
DK
Daneekas Ghost
MagUidhir
Zack
E-6
Can of Corn
spookymilk

Parentgood

Father Knows….nothing at all.

November 19, 2015 nibbish 68 Comments

I’ve never really cared for very small children.

I never had to deal with babies while growing up (my younger brother was born when I was four, so I didn’t have to help with any of the baby stuff), and have always regarded them as sort of extremely loud, legally binding tamagotchis.

When Linds and I got married, we agreed that we weren’t going to have kids for at least five years. We made sure that some of our bills were paid, we made sure we went on a tropical vacation, we got the stuff out of the way that we wanted to do. The five years stretched to seven. I was okay with that, because I’ve always been worried that my dismissive attitude would persist. Sometimes, that paternal instinct just never kicks in for some people – I was honestly worried that could be the case for me.

When we found out we were going to have a baby, that fear didn’t decrease, because even though I was excited about impending fatherhood, I didn’t feel nearly as excited as I thought I should feel. This was going to be life changing, and most days, all I could conjure up was “yeah, that’ll be pretty cool”.

As I found when I held Caleb for the first time, I really needn’t have worried.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that this kid is pretty much parenting on training wheels so far (sleeps through the night, is constantly happy (like, ridiculously so… the day care lady wants to adopt him), he’s had no health issues other than the sniffles and a light fever so far). Still, I could not have possibly anticipated the reprogramming my worldview would get. I spend my evenings lying on the floor, laughing til my stomach hurts over a baby giggling. I know the characters to Wallykazam.I have a phone full of baby pictures. If you had told me two years ago that would be the case, I would’ve laughed.

So, sorry this one doesn’t end up being an advice column. I don’t really have any to give. I still know practically nothing about parenting. Caleb changes every day. Everything is new and scary (he rolls over now! Both exciting and terrifying). Even so, all rational thought is overridden by a single thought that I would’ve scoffed at five years ago.

It’s worth it.

First Monday Book Day

First Monday: Winter Reading List

November 2, 2015 Daneekas Ghost 85 Comments

There was mention of, and support for, a winter reading list recommendation last month.

So here's what we'll do. Recommend a book or two below. At some point, I'll go through and collect all the books, organize by genre (in a very general sense: non-fiction, story collection, graphic novel, etc.) and provide some links in next month's post. That way I've got something to write about for two months instead of just one. Everybody wins!

I'll recommend a couple books, some I've read, and some I'm hoping to get to this winter.

The Dead Mountaineer's Inn by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.

This is one that I haven't got to yet, but sounds interesting. The Strugatskys are best known for science fiction, but here they tackle the mystery genre (an isolated ski resort, a dead body, a quirky list of suspects... you get it).

Today I am a Book by xTx.

I read this story collection back in August and really enjoyed it. It was the first thing I've really read by xTx and I am in love with her language. The stories were short, the sentences direct, but every time there was something moving just beneath the story. It's the kind of thing that really gets me, every time.

Haints Stay by Colin Winnette.

I can't be recommending books and pass up an opportunity to recommend Winnette, who may well be my favorite author right now. This is a bizarre book. It's an "acid western" that's got murderous transgender cowboys, cannibals, a sharpshooting foster mother out for revenge... everything, really. I read it in about 4 hours.

So, what's on your winter reading list? Or do you have a book that's perfect for someone else's list? Drop them in the LTE's.

How's Infinite Jest going? Everybody found a copy? Initial thoughts?

History, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Updated one Man’s opinion of top300 Twins-55 years of numbers

October 29, 2015 Nate Tubbs Rules 25 Comments

Looks like this is year 4 of putting my pet project on the WGOM site, SBG put it on his old site a few years before this. A little movement from last year. Joe still can't quite catch TonyO. Hunter moves up a spot over Jim Perry. Perkins and Dozier jump up in the top60, Plouffe joins the top100, and Sano/Rosario/Hicks/Pelfrey/Milone/Ervin are new to the list with Sano/Rosario/Gibson new to the top200.

I stole most of the idea from when Gleeman started his top40 list years ago (forever unfinished right?) The below quote is his, and the rest is an excerpt from a book I put together 5 years ago. Some of it is outdated, but I’ve updated the list and stats through 2015.

“The rankings only include time spent playing for the Minnesota Twins. In other words, David Ortiz doesn’t get credit for turning into one of the best players in baseball after joining the Red Sox and Paul Molitor doesn’t get credit for being one of the best players in baseball for the Brewers and Blue Jays. The Twins began playing on April 11, 1961, and that’s when these rankings start as well.”

I used a variety of factors, including longevity and peak value. Longevity included how many years the player was a Twin as well as how many plate appearances or innings pitched that player had in those years. For peak value, I looked at their stats, honors, and awards in their best seasons, as well as how they compared to their teammates. Did they lead their team in OPS or home runs or ERA for starters or WPA? If so, that got some bonus points. I factored in postseason heroics, awards (gold gloves, silver sluggers, MVPs, Cy Youngs), statistical achievements (batting titles, home run leaders, ERA champs, etc), and honors (all star appearances), and I looked at team success as well. If you were the #1 starter on a division winning champ, that gave you more points than the #1 starter on a cellar dweller. I looked at some of the advanced stats like WPA, WAR (as calculated by fan graphs and baseball-reference.com), WARP (as calculated by Baseball Prospectus), and Win Shares (as calculated by Bill James). For hitters, I also looked at OPS and the old school triple crown statistics like batting average, home runs, stolen bases, and RBI (and not only where you finished within the AL in any given year, but where you appear on the top25 lists amongst all Twins in the last 50 years). For pitchers I looked at strikeouts, innings pitched, win/loss percentage, ERA as well as ERA+). If there was a metric that was used for all 54 years of Twins history, I tried to incorporate it. I tended to give more credit to guys who were starters instead of part time/platoon players, more credit to position players over pitchers (just slightly, but probably unfairly) and starters over relievers (and closers over middle relievers). There’s no formula to my magic, just looking at a lot of factors and in the end going with the gut in all tie-breakers. Up in the top10 I’m looking at All star appearances, Cy Young and MVP votes, batting average or ERA titles or top10 finishes, etc, and placement in the top25 hitting and pitching lists in Twins history as well. In the middle 100s, it’s more about who started a few more years or had 2 good seasons rather than 1 with possibly an occasional all-star berth or top10 finish in SB or strikeouts. Once you’re in the latter half of the 200s there are none of those on anyone’s resume, so its basically just looking at peak season in OPS+ or ERA+, WAR, Win Shares, and who started the most years, had the most at bats, or pitched the most innings. What the player did as a coach, manager, or broadcaster is not taken into consideration for this list, so Billy Martin, Tom Kelly or Billy Gardner weren’t able to make the top 300 since they were poor players and Frank Quilici didn’t improve his status due to his managing career.
Continue reading Updated one Man’s opinion of top300 Twins-55 years of numbers →

Keeping Track

Fall Festival: Week One

October 20, 2015 Jeff A

I haven't had much time to follow the Arizona Fall League, but here's a quick look at how Twins players are doing.

PITCHERS

Nick Burdi has not played. I don't know the reason.
Trevor Hildenberger, 0-0, 0.00, 1.00 WHIP, 0 walks and 2 strikeouts in 3 innings (2 games).
Jake Reed, 0-0, 0.00, 0.75 WHIP, 0 walks and 1 strikeout in 1.1 innings (1 game).
Taylor Rogers, 1-0, 2.25, 0.75 WHIP, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts in 4 innings (1 start).

BATTERS

Mitch Garver, .500/.556/1.000 in 8 at-bats (4-for-8 with a home run and a double).
Stuart Turner, .500/.750/1.000 in 2 at-bats (1-for-2 with a double).
Adam Brett Walker II, .273/.429/.545 in 11 at-bats (3-for-11 with a home run).

Twins players are with the Scottsdale Scorpions. The Scorpions are 3-1, tied for first place with Salt River in the AFL East.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.