The Lion's Domain

2009 MLB Predictions

2009-04-06T20:47:00.002-04:00

Well, it’s that time of year again. I do this every year and I’m always wrong, but I won’t let that stop me.

American League

American League East: Yankees. Yeah, big surprise for me, right? But our starting pitching is (on paper) so much better this year. I really don’t think Tampa will repeat as AL East champs. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t make the play-offs. I think they will take a step back. Their starting rotation had virtually no hiccups last year. I don’t see that happening again.

American League Central: Twins. They almost did it last year, only losing to the White Sox 1-0 in a one game heart-breaker. They’re a young, athletic team and they are well managed. The Tigers are all messed up, and their pitching that looked so strong in ’06 has mysteriously been shot to hell. The Indians seem to be regressing and the White Sox, I don’t even understand how they win at all – they’re very Yankee-like, in a bad way. Old veterans, and not athletic.

American League West: Angels. They’re not going to win a hundred games, and their pitching is all banged up, but their division is so bad, they should win again anyway. Maybe Texas can slug their way to the top, but I doubt it.

AL Wildcard: Tough one. The Wildcard will come out of the East. I hate Boston, so I’ll pick Tampa.

National League

National League East: Phillies. I don’t like the Mets’ rotation, outside of Santana. The fact that Livan Hernandez, who gives up a TON of runs, is their fifth starter, is scary. I also think Citi Field is going to be a problem. It looks to be a very deep park, a pitchers’ park, and they will need young, highly athletic outfielders to keep singles from becoming triples. It could be a nightmare, though Reyes may steal 70 bases in that park.

National League Central: Cubs. I would like to pick a team other than the Cubs, since I feel they will not be as dominant in their division this year, but honestly, what other team has the pitching? Not Houston. Not the Cardinals. Perhaps the Reds, if Volquez, Cueto and Harang pitch up to form, but that never seems to happen for the Reds. The Brewers lost Sheets and Sabathia, so we won’t be hearing from them again, which is a shame, since they’re a fun team to watch.

National League West: Diamondbacks. This is the WORST division in baseball. God-awful. So much so that I think any team BUT the Padres can win it. However, I don’t think the Dodgers will repeat, since their pitching hasn’t improved. I think the Giants will be better than last year, and will contend. The Rockies are a nice team, but I just don’t see the pitching.

NL Wildcard: Another tough one. Again, I think the wildcard will come out of the East. I say the improved Braves will battle the Mets for this, and I think the Mets will fall short again.

ALCS: Yankees vs. Twins: Yankees prevail.

NLCS: Phillies vs. Cubs. Phillies prevail.

World Series: Yankees vs. Phillies. Yanks win.

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
NL Cy Young: Cole Hamels

AL MVP: Grady Sizemore
NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez

Ben & Jerry's: Flavors for W

2009-02-13T15:15:00.001-05:00

From Nimble Theory:

Ben & Jerrys created the ice cream flavor “Yes Pecan!” for Obama.

They then asked people to fill in the blank for the following:

For George W. they created “___________________________”.

Here are some of their favorite responses:

- Grape Depression
- Abu Grape
- Cluster Fudge
- Nut’n Accomplished
- Iraqi Road
- Chock ‘n Awe
- WireTapioca
- Impeach Cobbler
- Guantanmallow
- imPeachmint
- Good Riddance You Lousy Motherfucker… Swirl [LOL!]
- Heck of a Job, Brownie!
- Neocon Politan
- RockyRoad to Fascism
- The Reese’s-cession
- Cookie D’oh!
- The Housing Crunch
- Nougalar Proliferation
- Death by Chocolate… and Torture
- Freedom Vanilla Ice Cream
- Chocolate Chip On My Shoulder
- “You’re Shitting In My Mouth And Calling It A” Sundae
- Credit Crunch
- Mission Pecanplished
- Country Pumpkin
- Chunky Monkey in Chief
- George Bush Doesn’t Care About Dark Chocolate
- WMDelicious
- Chocolate Chimp
- Bloody Sundae
- Caramel Preemptive Stripe
- I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of thousands…with nuts

It Happened.

2008-11-05T13:12:00.003-05:00

Well, I Got That One Wrong

2008-10-31T17:22:00.002-04:00

Congrats to the Phillies.

Man, that's gonna stick in the craw of the Mets all winter. LOL!

You know, after Game 5 of the ALCS, the Rays kinda reverted to the Devil Rays, you know? They really sucked in this series. What the hell happened?

I wouldn't be surprised if the Rays don't repeat as a playoff team. They have the stink of "one and done" to me, like the Rockies and the Tigers.

Caption:

Fans gesture to Philadelphia Phillies' Shane Victorino as the Phillies head down Broad Street during a victory parade in downtown Philadelphia Friday Oct. 31, 2008. Thousands of spectators packed downtown for Friday's parade celebrating the Phillies World Series victory against the Tampa Bay Rays.

World Series Predictions

2008-10-22T17:56:00.001-04:00

I say Rays in 6. Their pitching is stronger. Also, the Phillies' ballpark works against them against a team like the Rays that hits a lot of home runs. I expect at least one game in Philly will have a football score like 14-10, or something like that.

Playoff Predictions: Round 2

2008-10-08T17:19:00.002-04:00

Well, I got three of the four division series winners right. But I did say that the Cubs were the Cubs. What the hell is the matter with that team? They played tight. And the Angels? They played like $#!@. How come they never played so poorly vs. the Yankees?

ACLS:
Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays: The only thing standing between the hated BoSox and back-to-back World Series championships are the Rays. I pray that the Rays beat them. I’m sick of Red Sox and their front runner “fans.” Rays in 6. But they REALLY need to win the first two games at home.

NLCS:
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies: Don’t look now, but the Dodgers look like they’re gonna pull an ’06 Cardinals on everybody. My head says the Phillies are a better team, but my gut says the Dodgers are going to pull this off. Dodgers in 7.

Playoff Predictions: First Round

2008-10-01T14:13:00.001-04:00

Brewers vs. Phillies: I like both these teams. There are nice young stars on both squads. I feel that the Phillies have the edge since they were in the playoffs last years and they have an idea what went wrong. Also, Sabathia can’t start game 1, and Sheets is done for the year, so those are big minuses for the Brewers. I’d say Phillies in 4, but I wouldn’t be sad if the Brewers managed to pull this off.

Dodgers vs. Cubs: The Cubs have much better pitching and the home field advantage, but they are the Cubs. This is essentially the same squad that got swept last year by the Diamondbacks, and that shouldn’t have happened. Manny is motivated, and that’s dangerous. But Joe Torre hasn’t gotten out of the first round of the playoffs since 2004. It would be interesting if he did so now, eh? But I say Cubs in 5.

Red Sox vs. Angels: I hate the Red Sox, but the Angels will probably find a way to lose this series. The Angels haven’t played a meaningful game all year, and I think some of their guys are hurt, but not as bad as last year with Garret Anderson getting pink eye, of all things. I’d like the Angels to win this one, but I’ll reluctantly say Red Sox in 5.

White Sox vs. Rays: The White Sox suck. The way they played down the stretch was pitiful. I was sad that the Twins lost yesterday, but either team is inferior to the Rays. The Rays have better pitching and younger, more athletic players. The only thing that could stop them would be if they get psyched out, or their manager, who has never managed an important game, drops the ball. Rays in 4.

My baseball wishes for today

2008-09-28T13:28:00.001-04:00

My baseball wishes for today, the final day of the season.

Since my Yankees are out of it, I wish the most pain on everyone:

I hope the Mets lose today and the Brewers also lose, forcing a one-game playoff on Monday, which Pedro will start. And I hope he gets shelled.

I hope the Twins and the White Sox both lose today, forcing the White Sox to play a makeup game on Monday vs. the Tigers. I want the Sox to win that game, which will force a one-game playoff on Tuesday, which I want the Twins to win.

I want the Angels to sweep the Red Sox.

I want the Rays to defeat the Twins.

I want the Rays to defeat the Angels in seven games and Kazmir to throw his arm out, requiring Tommy John surgery, killing his 2009 season.

In the NL, I want the Dodgers to defeat the Cubs, extending their misery to 101 years. I want Manny to blow out his ACL, requiring surgery in the off-season.

I want the Brewers to sweep the Phillies as a reminder that this 100 year-old team has only one championship under its belt.

I want the Brewers to defeat the Dodgers in five games. I want the Brewers to come in to the World Series rested while the Rays come in banged up. I want the Brewers to take the Rays in seven sloppy, horribly pitched games that generate an all-time low in ratings for Fox. Questions will be raised about the ability of both Sheets and Sabathia to come through in post season play.

Have a great day, everyone!

2008 Baseball Predictions

2008-04-01T20:17:00.003-04:00

Here are my predictions for the 2008 season:

AL East: Yankees (Everyone is picking Boston, but outside of Beckett, you have Dice-K who is hittable and two rookies, one of whom had cancer. You can’t tell me Boston fans feel confident about that. As for the Yanks, I expect Wang to win 17-20 games, Andy to win 15 and Mussina to win 11 and we’ll get at least ten each from Hughes and Kennedy. The bats are enough to win the rest. And remember – the Yankees won 94 games last year after a historically shitty start. The Red Sox only won two more games. I’m picking the Yankees to go 95-67.)

AL Central: Indians (The Tigers lineup is awesome, but it was awesome last year – and Cleveland handled their candy asses with a team that’s inferior on paper. I don’t expect Dontrelle to do shit against AL hitters, so the Tigers’ rotation is suspect after Verlander.)

AL West: Angels (Everyone is picking Seattle, but Seattle was streaky as hell last year – win 8, lose 5 in a row, etc.)

Wild Card: Tigers (Yes, I’m once again picking Boston not to make the playoffs.)

ALCS: Yankees over Tigers

AL Surprise Team: KC Royals. They’re tough on the Tigers, of all teams, which is a great boon for the Indians.

NL East: Phillies (Like the Yankees and Tigers, I think the Phillies can slug their way through the season. Their pitching is nothing after Hamels, though and they have bullpen concerns, like most teams.)

NL Central: Cubs (It’s hard not to pick the Cubs, but they should’ve won going away last year and the Brewers were in the mix until the end. The Cubs seriously underwhelm me, but the NL Central is piss poor in talent. Houston, Pittsburgh and St. Louis are going nowhere. I feel the Brewers will take a step back, and the Reds? Where’s the pitching? They have Harang and... I guess that all.)

NL West: Diamondbacks (I would like to pick the Rockies, but I think their shot was last year. How can they repeat that magic? And they lost one of their starters. I do think this a race that will go down to the wire, however. The Giants will come in dead last with the Padres slightly better. I feel the Dodgers will improve under Torre, but will not contend this year.)

NL Wild Card: Mets (With Santana they will improve, but there are so many people on that team that you KNOW will spend significant time on the DL – Pedro, El Duque, Alou, Beltran, Delgado. Willie will be fired this year, I’m sure.)

NL Surprise Team: The Nationals. I see them winning 80+ games and becoming like the Blue Jays are in the AL East – tough, but in an unforgiving division with superior teams.

NLCS: Cubs over Mets

World Series: Yankees over Cubs

AL MVP: A-Rod (with Robinson Cano, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rios in the mix)

AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

NL MVP: Prince Fielder (with Hanley Ramirez in the mix)

NL Cy Young: Johan Santana

Signs of Judgment Day, Part 1

2008-03-05T10:12:00.001-05:00

From Gizmodo:

UK robotics professor Noel Sharkey is raising a fuss over the US Defense Department's intention to put $4 billion into "unmanned systems" in the next year or two. One fear is that spillover from all that R&D will give terrorists new ways to build effective GPS-guided suicide bombers for $500 or less.

"How long is it going to be before the terrorists get in on the act? With the current prices of robot construction falling dramatically and the availability of ready-made components for the amateur market, it wouldn't require a lot of skill to make autonomous robot weapons."

But Sharkey has other more philosophical issues, ones that echo Isaac Asimov's own concerns of more than a half century ago.

Says the New Scientist:

Sharkey is most concerned about the prospect of having robots decide for themselves when to "pull the trigger." Currently, a human is always involved in decisions of this nature. But the Pentagon is nearly two years into a research program aimed at having robots identify potential threats without human help.

But Ronald Arkin of Georgia Tech, the Siskel to Sharkey's Ebert, says that because a robot has no emotional baggage, it could be a much more "ethical" killer:

Arkin suggests trying to design ethical control systems that make military robots respect the Geneva Convention and other rules of engagement on the battlefield... "With a robot I can be sure that a robot will never harbour the intention to hurt a non-combatant," he says. "Ultimately they will be able to perform better than humans."

Hello!

Terminator? Battlestar Galactica? ED-209?

Read more...

Microblogging

2008-03-04T22:09:00.001-05:00

I'm going to try microblogging -- just writing little snippets at a time. It's better than nothing, which is what I've been doing.

19 and... Oh Shit, They Lost!

2008-02-03T23:41:00.000-05:00

LOL!

Too funny! I wonder how many pre-orders they had to cancel on Amazon.com?

Leyritz Charged With DUI

2007-12-28T15:23:00.000-05:00

What a shitty off-season this is for Yankees fans! First all the steroid stuff, now this gem:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A former major league baseball player is in the Broward County Jail after being arrested on suspicion of DUI and vehicular homicide.Police said Jim Leyritz was behind the wheel of a Ford SUV that collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Southwest Seventh Avenue and Second Street in the Himmarshee area of downtown Fort Lauderdale.The impact caused the other car to roll over and the female driver of that vehicle was ejected and she died after being taken to Broward General Medical Center, police said.

Mitchell Report Predictions

2007-12-13T10:17:00.000-05:00

The report on steroid use in baseball is set to be released by former Senator George Mitchell at 2 p.m. today in New York, Rumor has it that there will be many former (and possibly current) Yankees on the list of 60-80 named steroid users.

Since Mitchell was an employee (actually, director) of the Red Sox, I kinda doubt there'll be any Sox names on the list, you know?

These are the Yanks that I expect to see on the list:

Roger Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Tino Martinez
Chuck Knoblauch
Gary Sheffield (already busted)
Jason Giambi (ditto)

I wouldn't be surprised to see A-Rod on the list too. As for the Mets, Piazza and Edgardo Alfonso are likely candidates.

Read more about Mitchell's report (and his Red Sox connections) here.

Ain't Gonna Happen

2007-11-13T10:20:00.000-05:00

Nice job of Photoshopping, but this ain't gonna happen. If the Yanks want Santana they should wait till after 2008. Why give up half the farm for a guy who's gonna be a free agent after one season?

Image swiped from here.

It Keeps Getting Better

2007-11-07T07:20:00.001-05:00

New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte comes onto the field after warming up before beating the Baltimore Orioles for his 200th career victory in New York in this Sept. 19, 2007 file photo. Pettitte declined his US$16 million option to return to the Yankees, still uncertain whether he wants to pitch next season, his agent, Randy Hendricks, said in an e-mail to the Associated Press on Monday, Nov. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, file)

Sigh. It just keeps getting better. A-Rod brazenly opts out before the World Series is even over, Torre gets kicked to the curb and quickly resurfaces as the Dodgers' manager, now Andy "isn't sure" if he wants to play here anymore.

So let's see where we're at:

The outfield consists of a platoon in left field of two guys that get injured a lot and have bad arms. Centerfield is manned by a young guy with a good arm who is good for about 10 homers and often lets catchable balls drop because of miscommunication with the right fielder. The right fielder's power numbers have steadily dropped in the last 3 years and he went into a deep 3-month slump at the beginning of the season.

At first base we have an aging DH who's often injured and two light-hitting, but strong defensive fielders. At second we have a young guy who put up near-batting champion numbers the year before, but whose numbers fell off last year. He also has a tendency to zone out. Our shortstop hits for average with little power and he had a poor post season -- but didn't get ripped for it. At third we have nobody, and we need to replace 150 RBI and 50+ homers.

At DH we have a switch-hitting utility infielder who strikes out a lot and a powerhitting right-handed nearly 30-year-old rookie who also strikes out a lot.

Both of our catchers have filed for free agency. The backup catcher is very good defensively, but has no power. The primary catcher will probably re-sign, but his career year with the bat won't be repeated.

Our starting rotation will consist of a sinkerball pitcher who was great in the regular season but killed us with two losses in the postseason. Then there's an ornery finesse pitcher who doesn't get calls off the plate anymore and three rookies, who could be great or, more likely, a mixed bag over the course of the season.

Our closer has filed for free agency. He is good, but no longer lights out. Our setup man can't be trusted, and has a huge contract that prevents him from being moved. The other setup man filed for free agency and might not be back. We have no middle relief. There are two rookies that will likely be added to the pen who looked bad in their late season and post season appearances.

We have a manager with only one year of experience who was fired from his previous position for beefing with intrusive ownership. Most of the coaching staff has gone to LA with the former manager.

Well, it should be an interesting year.

Asshole!

2007-10-24T18:39:00.001-04:00

What an asshole Rudy is.

A real Yankee fan who isn't running for office would NEVER root for the Red Sox. The Rockies will be lucky to win one game, but I'm still rooting for them.

Oh, for God's Sake!

2007-10-21T16:28:00.000-04:00

A Boston Red Sox fan holds up a sign while the Red Sox play the Cleveland Indians in Game 6 of Major League Baseball's ALCS playoff series in Boston October 20 2007. (Adam Hunger/Reuters)

Come on, Cleveland!

Up 3-1, now you have to place a game 7 in Fenway!

Why does everyone look like Cy Young when they pitch against us (Fausto Carmona), but they roll over and play dead against the Red Sox?? Disgusting!

For God's sake, man up and beat the brains out of Daisuke tonight, PLEASE? I can't stand another peep out of "Red Sox Nation."

Joe Is Out! Rejects $5 Mil+ Deal

2007-10-18T16:36:00.001-04:00

Lifelong New York Yankees fan Martin Silver encourages passersby to sign a petition to save Joe Torre's job as manager of the Yankees during a rally he sponsored near Times Square in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007. Silver hopes to gather a million signatures to send to Tampa where the team's hierarchy has been meeting to decide whether Torre can keep the job he held for the past 12 seasons.

Shocker from Yahoo Sports! Joe is out as Yankee manager.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Joe Torre rejected a $5 million, one-year contract to return as manager of the New York Yankees on Thursday.
Torre, who had held the job since 1995, made an unannounced trip from New York to the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Fla., accompanied by general manager Brian Cashman and chief operating officer Lonn Trost. Yankees president Randy Levine said Torre turned down the offer during the meeting, which lasted about one hour.
"It is now time for the New York Yankees to move forward," Levine said.
Torre made $7.5 million this year, the final season of a $19.2 million, three-year contract. His new deal would have included substantial bonuses for each round of the playoffs the team reached.
"We felt we needed to go to a performance-based mode," Levine said. "We thought it was very fair. It clearly was at the top of the market, but we respect Joe's decision."

Read more...

What else could Joe do? That's a huge pay cut. If you were making $75 grand and you had won major awards for your company, then your pay was slashed to $50 grand, what would you do?

But who the hell is gonna run this team now? Mattingly can't do this. I would prefer Joe Giradi over him, but he's younger than some of the vets on the team. LaRussa is okay with me too, but people keep saying he's bad with the media. I don't care. If he could win a championship with that joke of a Cardinals team in '06, he can advance the '08 Yankees to the World Series.

Is Davey Johnson available? How come no one mentions him anymore?

One and Done

2007-10-09T17:13:00.001-04:00

Doug Mientkiewicz of the New York Yankees kneels in the infield after failing to throw out Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians during Game Four of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium. The Indians won 6-4 to take the series 3-1.(AFP/Getty Images/Jim McIsaac)

Do Or Die

2007-10-08T17:27:00.000-04:00

New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens leaves the game in the third inning against the Cleveland Indians during Game 3 of an American League Division Series baseball game Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007 at Yankee Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Wow, look at the faces in that picture of those mean-ass fans, tearing Roger a new one as he limped off the field last night. Was that necessary? Luckily, Phil Hughes came in and saved the Yanks' bacon, at least for one night.

Thank God we won that game. I didn't want us to get swept.

I can't believe that Cleveland is going with Paul Byrd! If it was me, I'd pitch Sabathia on short rest. I wouldn't be surprised if Byrd suddenly "pulls something" right before game time and they switch starters.

Chien-Ming Wang is capable of bouncing back and winning this game (he's 10-4 at home), but I'm concerned about the fact that Joba won't be available (30+ pitches last night). That means they may bring in Farnsworth, and I'll have to turn off the TV if they do.

Hey, Derek Jeter -- try not to hit into a freaking double play tonight, okay?

Rockies Continue to Roll

2007-10-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

Colorado Rockies' Kazuo Matsui, right, is sprayed with champagne by pitcher Franklin Morales after the Rockies beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of a National League Division Series playoff baseball game on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007 at Coors Field in Denver. The Rockies sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies advanced them to the National League Championship. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Unbelievable. The Rockies have lost like one game in the last two and a half weeks.

Although it's interesting to see new blood in the League Championship series, you gotta assume that the brass at TBS will be looking at some seriously poor ratings as the D-backs and Rockies, expansion teams from the 90's, fight it out to decide who represents the NL in the World Series. They had to have been praying for a Phillies/Cubs match up that would draw on large established fan bases.

As for this afternoon's Red Sox/Angels game, it would be nice if the Angels won one game, but I doubt it.

As for the Yankees, I don't care if we win or lose. I dreamt that we got blown out early and lost by the same score that the Mets lost by last week -- 8-1. If we win, I'll be ecstatic of course, but we don't deserve to win. Torre is incapable of thinking outside the box in the playoffs. It's not his nature. He did it last year when he stuck Sheffield and Matsui, both coming off of hand surgeries, in the postseason lineup and killed the chemistry established by Melky. He's done it again in this series by starting ailing Matsui at DH for two games when we have a healthy Shelly Duncan and a healthy Jason Giambi on the bench. Both of those players came off the bench and got hits and Matsui hasn't sniffed one yet.

I don't want to hear anything about A-Rod. He's not the problem. He's hitless, but so are Posada and Matsui. Jeter, Cano and Melky are all hitting under .200. The only one doing anything is Bobby Abreu! He may have saved his job here.

Lord Of The Flies

2007-10-06T13:32:00.000-04:00

New York Yankee head trainer Gene Monahan rubs bug spray on New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain as small insects swarm around in the eighth inning of Game 2 of an American League Division Series baseball game against the Cleveland Indians Friday, Oct. 5, 2007, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

**SIGH**

We had this one won, I tell you. Andy didn't allow a run in 6.1 innings. We had Job for the 8th and Mariano for the 9th and we were going to head back to New York with a split. I felt good about our chances against Cleveland's third and fourth starters.

So what happens?

A swarm of insects descends on the Jake, a disconcerted Joba walks the leadoff batter in the 8th, the batter takes 2nd on a wild pitch, take 3rd on a bunt and scores the tying run on another wild pitch.

I knew the game was over then, even though it lasted another three innings before Vizcaino gave up the bases loaded hit.

Ironically, before the plague of locusts fell on Joba like a biblical curse, I was worried about Mariano in the 9th. I was worried that he might not be able to hold a 1-run lead and I was hoping that Joe would roll the dice and keep Joba in there. Naturally, Mariano pitched an effortless 1-2-3 9th. If Joba had held the lead, we would've won the game, 1-0.

I don't know what's wrong with this team. We don't play competitive post-season baseball. We can't manufacture runs. We're looking at getting swept now.

Please win games 3 and 4. PLEASE!

Oh, and game 5, too.

Dammit!

2007-10-05T10:11:00.000-04:00

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James holds up his New York Yankees hat during the fourth inning of Game 1 of an American League Division Series baseball game between the Yankees and Cleveland Indians Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

I predicted that we were going to lose, but I didn't want to be right. And we got ROCKED, too, to the tune of 12-3. Chien-Ming Wang didn't have shit.

Please, please, please let Andy win tonight. I just don't want to get swept. Baby Orlando was giggling at me while I prayed.

At least Derek Jeter fan LeBron James had a good time.

Oh, BTW, I like how an inept YES Network cameraman ran over our 1st baseman Doug Mientkiewicz and possibly ruined him for the postseason! Probably a Red Sox plant!

The Unkindest Kaz of All

2007-10-04T17:27:00.001-04:00

Colorado Rockies batter Kazuo Matsui hits a grand slam in the fourth inning in Game 2 of their MLB National League Division Series playoff baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia, October 4, 2007. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES)

Don't look now, but little ole Kaz Matsui, who was run out of town by the Mets, has 5 RBI today against the Phillies, including a Grand Slam!!

Rockies are kicking the Phillies asses, 10-4 in the 7th.

Looks bad for the Phillies, though J-Roll and Ryan Howard both have homered in the game.

Good Pitching Beats Good Hitting... But Man, Is It BORING.

2007-10-03T21:53:00.000-04:00

Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett wheels to look at a line drive single off the bat of Los Angeles Angels' Vladimir Guerrero in the ninth inning of Game 1 of an American League Division Series playoff baseball game against Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007 in Boston. Beckett pitched a complete-game 4-0 shutout. The Red Sox and Angels play Game 2 in Boston Friday night. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

God, what a boring-ass game that was. The Angels looked so overmatched, they look like they might get swept. I couldn't see the Phillies/Rockies game because it was on in the middle of the freaking day and the Cubs/D-Backs game was on in the middle of the freaking night.

Hey, that reminds me of that Jodeci song:

Every freaking day
And every freaking night...

Playoff Predictions

2007-10-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'll keep it short and sweet:

Cubs vs. Diamondbacks -- D-backs in 5. Although the Cubs (and the whole NL Central) are weak, if the Cubs were to win the series it would be because the D-backs have a lot of rookies on their team. Though the Cubs as a team haven't been in the postseason in a few years, many of their players have (Soriano, Lilly, etc.)

Phillies vs. Rockies -- Tough one. It's unfortunate that the two most exciting NL playoff teams will meet in the first round. Phillies in 4.

Red Sox vs. Angels -- Red Sox in 4. The Angels are as bad against the Red Sox as the Yankees are against the Angels.

Yankees vs. Indians -- Yankees in 5, though I could see the Yankees losing this one. I have no confidence in Mussina pitching a game four, and I can only pray that Clemens can summon up whatever he has left to win game three. We will probably lose game one in Cleveland to Sabathia with our lefty-dominated lineup.

Mr. Met Goes Home

2007-10-02T11:00:00.000-04:00

ROFL!

He Never Touched The Bag!

2007-10-01T23:59:00.000-04:00

Colorado Rockies base runner Matt Holliday (R) slides safely into home to score the winning run past San Diego Padres catcher Michael Barrett (L) on a sacrifice fly by Jamey Carroll (not pictured) in the 13th inning of their MLB National League Wild Card tiebreaker baseball game in Denver, Colorado, October 1, 2007. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Congratulations to the Colorado Rockies on winning the NL Wildcard!

But the winning run was BOGUS! Holliday never touched the bag!!

Whatever. They're an exciting team and I wanted them to win. The Padres only had to win two games in the last four days and they couldn't do it. So much for "the greatest reliever ever" Trevor Hoffman. Seven blown saves this year. SEVEN!

Not So Amazing

2007-09-30T22:26:00.000-04:00

Philadelphia Phillies' Jimmy Rollins points skyward after hitting a triple in the first inning of a baseball game with the Washington Nationals, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007, in Philadelphia. The Phillies won 6-1 taking the Eastern Division Championship.(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Well, the greatest collapse in regular season history now belongs to the Mets. The game was over in the top of the first, as Glavine only recorded one out and gave up a whopping 7 earned runs. If not for a wild pitch by Dontrelle Willis, the Mets would've been shut out.

There will be some riveting radio tonight (and for months to come, I expect) about what went wrong with the Mets, whose fault this is and what should be done for next year. There'll be a lot of talk about firing Willie Randolph. This collapse isn't his fault. If you have a bullpen that can't hold a 5-run lead, what are you supposed to do? Every single pitcher in that pen went south in September. No one could be trusted.

If you have starting pitchers and position players in their 40's, how much can you expect from them? This is not unlike what the Yankees went through, but they had young arms in the minors that were able to rescue the club. This looks more like a GM issue, but even there it's not clear how much Omar Minaya could do, especially mid-season when it was clear that they needed pitching help, but so did every other team.

As for the one-game tie-breaker tomorrow for the NL Wildcard, I'm picking the Rockies. They are tough at Coors Field (they swept both the Mets and Yankees there in June/July) and they're a better offensive team than the Padres.

Man Up!

2007-09-29T23:57:00.000-04:00

Florida Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez (L), New York Mets Jose Reyes (2nd L), third base coach Sandy Alomar, Marlins third baseman Miguel Cabrera, Dan Uggla (2nd R) and Miguel Olivo (R) scuffle on the field in the fifth inning of their MLB National League baseball game at Shea Stadium in New York September 29, 2007. (Jeff Zelevansky/Reuters)

It took a near no-hitter to do it, (and two brawls) but the Mets managed to live another day as they blanked the Marlins and the Phillies fell to the pesky Nats.

I smell a tie-breaker on Monday. I hope it goes down to that. Hell, I'm hoping for a four-way tie so there's a double elimination scenario -- Met vs. Phillies and Rockies vs. Padres on Monday with the loser of Mets/Philles playing the winner of Roclies/Padres on Tuesday.

I'd like the Phillies to take the East and the Mets to win the Wildcard to set up a HUGE seven game NLCS if they both get past the first round.

BTW, seemingly forgotten in the Mets 13-0 blowout of the Marlins was the fact that in the 3rd inning before Milledge's second homer, Jose Reyes stood at the plate and watched a pop up, failed to run to first, and was called out. With their fucking season on the line! What's in his head? It was only the third inning and the Marlins have already showed in the last ten days that they're perfectly capable of putting a ten-spot on the board.

Unbelievable!

Have we settled the "who's the best shortstop in New York" question yet? Jeter would pull that shit. Hell, what about who's the best shortstop in the NL question, for that matter? Jimmy Rollins wouldn't have done that. They booed Reyes' ass the next time up, and rightly so. In the instant poll the broadcasters set up, 80% of the viewers said Randolph should've benched him. That wasn't going to happen, of course.

Meet The Mess

2007-09-28T16:16:00.000-04:00

New York Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca hangs his head in the dugout after after the Mets lost 3-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals in a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, at Shea Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)

The Mets (87-72) were ahead by seven games with 17 remaining but have lost 10 of 14 overall and seven straight at home. No major league team has failed to finish first after having at least a seven-game lead with 17 to play.

Whoa! Shit is hitting the fan in Queens.

I can't believe this team is underachieving like this. Actually, the Mets are not unlike the Yankees, but unfortunately for them, they've chosen to bite the big one at the end of the season, not at the beginning.

Metstradamus, who writes a very entertaining Mets blog has been chronicling the agony:

Hope? Not for me. We're done. I'll pray I'm proven wrong. It will be futile. Any team that lets a first inning error by their second baseman, and a journeyman pitcher who was picked up off the scrap heap by a team that's out of the money dictate their night is exhibiting the classic signs of a team that is playing nervous, scared, whatever you want to call it. I'll go so far to say that if you used the C-word in this instance, you wouldn't be wrong. And any fan base that sings the "Jose Jose Jose" like it was a funeral march knows exactly what's going on.

Read more...

Unlike him, I think they'll be fine. It'll probably come down to a one-game tie-breaker on Monday, but they'll be fine.

On another note, I have to say I'm very impressed with the Phillies. Such heart! And the Rockies have won 11 in a row. How. HOW??

Sweet

2007-09-27T15:16:00.000-04:00

New York Yankees' Joba Chamberlain, right, and Alex Rodriguez celebrate after the team clinched a playoff berth with a 12-4 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays during a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

What a crazy season! I freely admit that I did not think I'd be posting the above picture when we were 14.5 games out on May 29. That's about the time that I stopped doing my podcast. However, I should know by now that you can never count out the "evil empire."

This picture, however, is pushing it:

Link swiped from Can't Stop the Bleeding.

Funny Clemens Commercial

2007-09-20T11:43:00.001-04:00

Fall 2007 TV Season

2007-09-18T13:02:00.001-04:00

OMG, I can hardly find time to post on this blog any more! :(

Anyway, the new Fall TV season is here, and there are a few shows to catch up on. I spent the weekend watching most of season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. I have about four episodes left.

Man, did that season suck. I stopped watching in November and I didn't miss much. More on that later.

I see that they're remaking the Bionic Woman. I have a bad feeling about that show (that it will be sleazy), but I will watch the pilot.

As for Heroes, I hated the season finale, but I will continue watching just to see if it gets better.

There's a new vampire show, I think on CBS. How can that NOT be terrible?

Looks like a wasteland for fantasy and sci-fi TV this season...

The Machine is Us/ing Us

2007-08-24T13:25:00.000-04:00

R.I.P. Scooter

2007-08-15T13:27:00.000-04:00

Phil "The Scooter" Rizzuto passed away on August 14, 2007 at the age of 89. He was such a funny, upbeat guy. He made all of those awful Yankees teams of the 80's seem like they were going to win something when I was watching. He was an incredibly humble person, considering he had seven championships and an MVP award under his belt.

The current crop of broadcasters are all about the stats and it’s funny how people who never had the talent to actually play the came come off as so critical. Scooter, on the other hand always had an entertaining anecdote, and he was doing shout-outs before that term existed.

He will be missed.

You know technology is part of your life because...

2007-07-23T18:30:00.000-04:00

You know technology is part of your life because:

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

Who's Your Daddy?

2007-06-10T21:29:00.000-04:00

Amazon is doing something cute for Father's Day. If you're unsure what to buy for your dad, compare him to one of these famous dads and vote for your favorite:

I like the write-up for Darth Vader:

People who think of Darth Vader as a father figure often have mixed feelings about their own fathers. You admire strong disciplinarians, yet you tend to rebel against authority. When growing up, you were probably distant from your own imperious father, perhaps cultivating a closer relationship with an aunt or uncle. You still may feel as if you've never really known your father, suspecting that he may be keeping important family secrets from you. This mystery that has always surrounded him leads you to second-guess his motives--you may wonder whether he's trying to steer you down the wrong path.

The suggested gifts are cute too. The Art of Parenting Twins and Woolite Dark Laundry Wash are among the suggestions.

Oh, and there's a hoax item too -- a land cruiser tank you can buy for a mere $19,999.95.

On The Lot

2007-06-07T20:57:00.000-04:00

Wow, how could a reality show with such good backing suck so badly?

I really had high hopes for On The Lot. The premise of the Fox show is that 18 undiscovered directors will compete for a $1 million movie deal with Dreamworks pictures. The show is produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett. The judges are Gary Marshall, Carrie Fisher and a random director of the week.

But it’s bad!

There have been about four episodes so far and they’re down to the final 15 people. Over 12 thousand people supposedly submitted films, but I’m not very impressed by the quality of films that we’re being shown. I’m certain that 18 students from NYU or UCLA would put together better films. I also think 18 kids could be found on YouTube with films with more raw originality.

I’m disturbed at the weak subject matter. Between last week’s shorts and this week’s, we’ve seen a film about vomiting, two films about farting, one about giving birth (while refusing to get off a cell phone) and one about peeing and they were all boring and stupid. And it’s not adolescent boys making these films! Three of the films I mentioned were made by adult females.

I’m wondering what the problem is. Was there something wrong with the selection process? Did they choose photogenic people over creative people? Did they pick people who had worked in the industry before over truly raw talent?

I think Zach is the likely winner, since he has the edge with editing and post production special effects, but I wonder if the show will be canceled before it gets that far?

"Web site" baffles Internet terrorism trial judge

2007-05-19T21:49:00.000-04:00

From Reuters:

LONDON (Reuters) - A British judge admitted on Wednesday he was struggling to cope with basic terms like "Web site" in the trial of three men accused of inciting terrorism via the Internet.

Judge Peter Openshaw broke into the questioning of a witness about a Web forum used by alleged Islamist radicals.

"The trouble is I don't understand the language. I don't really understand what a Web site is," he told a London court during the trial of three men charged under anti-terrorism laws.
Prosecutor Mark Ellison briefly set aside his questioning to explain the terms "Web site" and "forum." An exchange followed in which the 59-year-old judge acknowledged: "I haven't quite grasped the concepts."
Violent Islamist material posted on the Internet, including beheadings of Western hostages, is central to the case.

Concluding Wednesday's session and looking ahead to testimony Thursday by a computer expert, the judge told Ellison: "Will you ask him to keep it simple, we've got to start from basics."

Oh my God! How is this man qualified to judge this case?? Why doesn't he do the right thing and excuse himself from this trial?

Read more...

Militant 'Mickey Mouse' pulled off air

2007-05-09T22:41:00.000-04:00

From Yahoo News:

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Hamas militants have suspended a TV program that featured a Mickey Mouse lookalike urging Palestinian children to fight Israel and work for global Islamic domination, the Palestinian information minister said Wednesday.

nformation Minister Mustafa Barghouti said the character — a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice — represented a "mistaken approach" to the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation.

He said that the program was pulled from Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV at his ministry's request and "placed under review."

The character, named "Farfour," or "butterfly," but unmistakably a copy of the Disney character, preached against the U.S. and Israel each Friday on the show called "Tomorrow's Pioneers."

Nuts!

Read more...

Diego "Chico" Corrales Dies in Motorcycle Accident

2007-05-08T19:13:00.000-04:00

From Excite.com:

LAS VEGAS (AP) -Diego Corrales, who won titles in two weight classes and was involved in one of the most exciting fights in recent years, died in a motorcycle accident a few miles from the Las Vegas Strip. He was 29.

His promoter, Gary Shaw, said Corrales was driving his motorcycle at a high rate of speed when he ran into the back of a car Monday night. Shaw said Corrales, whose career had faltered the past two years, recently bought a racing motorcycle and apparently was riding it the time he was killed.

"He fought recklessly and he lived recklessly," Shaw said. "That was his style."

Las Vegas police spokesman Jose Montoya said the victim in the accident was wearing a helmet, and police were investigating if drugs or alcohol was involved.

Corrales, who fought most of his career at 130 pounds, was a big puncher best known for getting up after two 10th-round knockdowns to stop Jose Luis Castillo on May 7, 2005, in what the Boxing Writers Association of America and numerous boxing publications called the fight of the year.

Wow, I remember this guy. He was pretty good, up until he lost his first fight to Floyd Mayweather. That was a very memorable fight. Corrales looked like a favorite coming into that fight. He was taller, had a reach advantage and just looked bigger. But Mayweather kicked his ass to the point that Corrales' stepfather, who was working his corner literally threw in the towel to stop the ass-whipping. Corrales burst into tears and cursed at him, but his stepfather shook his head, hugged him and said he didn't want him to get hurt. I've never forgotten that fight.

Read more...

He's Baaaaaack!

2007-05-07T18:41:00.000-04:00

Newly signed New York Yankees starting pitcher Roger Clemens speaks at a news conference at Yankee Stadium in New York May 6, 2007. The New York Yankees have signed seven-times Cy Young Award winner Clemens to a minor-league contract, the American League club announced on Sunday. (Jeff Zelevansky/Reuters)

Golden Fraud

2007-05-06T18:43:00.000-04:00

I'm so glad I didn't pay to see this fight!

They almost had me. On Saturday I watched a marathon of the reality TV series / pay-per-view promo De La Hoya / Mayweather 24/7, and, hey, it was pretty damn good. I think we can be sure of seeing similar promo "documentaries" whenever another fight comes up that needs the ducats.

The one thing that bothered me is that Mayweather agreed to make himself look bad to promote the fight. The whole series made Oscar look like a saint.

Uh, he has three out of wedlock kids and he had to pay off a girl who accused him of raping her at his condo when she was 15. Big family man.

His carefully crafted image makes me sick, which is why I'm always happy when his ass gets beat. He has a tendency to lose the high-profile fights, too. Trinidad, Hopkins, Moseley. And now Mayweather.

I hope none of you bet on this one...

(Almost) Perfect

2007-05-05T20:53:00.000-04:00

New York Yankees’ Chien-Ming Wang delivers against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning in Major League Baseball action Saturday, May 5, 2007 at Yankee Stadium in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Chien-Ming Wang!

Man, he threw down. Remember back in the day when Andy was the stopper and had this incredible winning percentage after a Yankees loss? We’ll that’s Chien-Ming Wang’s role now. Not only was he pitching a shutout, only was he throwing a no-hitter, he had a perfect game going with 5 outs to go!

Again, like with Hughes, it was not to be. At least he didn’t get hurt, except for his feelings, perhaps. The perfect game, no-hitter and shutout were broken up with one swing of the bat by Ben Broussard. It was a hell of a game, nonetheless.

Is a healthy Chien-Ming Wang, a healthy Mussina and a healthy Pettitte enough to win a World Series? My mind says no, but…

Oh, yeah, the final score was 8-1.

From the people who brought you NaNoWriMo...

2007-05-04T13:09:00.000-04:00

From the people who brought you NaNoWriMo, comes Script Frenzy:

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants attempt the creatively daring feat of writing an original, full-length screenplay—or stage play—in a single month. Spurred by a wild deadline and buoyed by a community of countless other writers, Script Frenzy participants can't be bothered with self-doubt—or editing. They're too busy writing by the seat of their pants, typing out beautiful, flawed stories that no one else could have dreamt up.

As part of a donation-funded nonprofit, Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; there are also no valuable prizes awarded or "best" scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 20,000 words is victorious and awe-inspiring and will get a Script Frenzy Winner's Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact. Even those who fall short of the word goal will be applauded for making a heroic attempt. Really, you have nothing to lose—except that nagging feeling that there's a script inside you that may never get out.

The 5 Basic Rules of Script Frenzy

To be crowned an official Script Frenzy winner, you must write a script of at least 20,000 words and verify this word count on ScriptFrenzy.org.
You may write individually or in teams of two. Writer teams will have a 20,000 total word goal for their single co-written script.
Script writing may begin no earlier than 12:00:01 AM on June 1 and must cease no later than 11:59:59 PM on June 30, local time.
You may write either a screenplay or a stage play.
You must, at some point, have ridiculous amounts of fun.

Are you tempted?

Read more...

Number 13

2007-05-03T21:47:00.000-04:00

There was an interesting rundown of A-Rod's April stats on ESPN on Sunday. It's still hard to warm up to this guy after he's let the team down in the post season every year, however, these numbers were impressive:

1 Grand Slam
2 Walk-off home runs
3 Multi-home run games
4 [His spot in the order]
5 Home runs when the Yankees were trailing
6 Go-ahead home runs
7 Home runs at home (and 7 on the road)
8 Two-run home runs
9 Home runs with 2 outs
10 Home runs to left field
11 Home runs with runners on
12 Home runs vs. right-handed pitchers
13 [His number]
14 Home runs in April, tying Albert Pujols' record set in 2006.

Hey, Alex -- **PLEASE** repeat this performance in October, okay?

Phil Hughes is Throwing a No-Hitter

2007-05-01T21:56:00.000-04:00

Can it happen?? Hughes is no-hitting the Rangers through 5 and two thirds innings.

UPDATE 1: No hitter through six!

UPDATE 2: Noooooo! Hughes has been pulled after one out in the seventh. He pulled his hamstring pitching to Mark Texiera!! Shit! What more can happen to this staff?

I knew it...

2007-05-01T00:14:00.000-04:00

I had a hunch that the person in Sylar's painting from last week was really Sylar, not Nathan. It was too demonic a depiction. Nathan has some sleazy ways, but he tends more towards weak morals than outright evil.

BTW, Mohinder really is a brick, isn't he? He was working for Sylar who was masquerading as Nathan for five years and didn't catch on?

I wasn't too impressed with last night's episode of Heroes. I could do without the blatant rip-offs of all too familiar X-Men plots. Hopefully we'll get back on track next week.

Sumo Babies

2007-04-30T22:39:00.000-04:00

Sumo baby : University student sumo wrestlers attempt to make babies cry during the "Baby-cry Sumo," an annual contest which is supposed to bring good health, at Tokyo's Sensoji temple in Tokyo.(AFP/Toshifumi Kitamura)

Weird. Sounds kinda mean, too.

Last Night on "Heroes"

2007-04-24T21:19:00.000-04:00

The seven-week hiatus was excruciating, but last night's episode was pretty meaty.

Hiro met up with his future self. Not sure where that's going.

Niki/Jessica continues to work for Linderman, despite the fact that D.L. threatens to take Micah from her.

Linderman wants Micah to do something for him. I bet he wants the kid to mess with electronic voting machines and swing the election to Nathan.

Peter manages to survive his second encounter with Sylar, but only because he has Claire's super healing ability. Mohinder takes Peter's "body" back to his family and Claire pulls a huge shard of glass out of his brain, which revives him.

Nathan listens to Linderman's spiel about saving the world and buys into his plan. The plan is evidently to rig the election, let most of New York get blown up by an exploding Peter, and then position Nathan as some savior that's going to "lead people out of darkness."

Claire gets to know her granny, who is a really calculating old woman. Granny Petrelli showed no emotion when Mohinder showed up with Peter's body. She actually suggested to Nathan that they hide Peter's body until after the election. Is she really that cold, or did she know that Peter wasn't dead?

Mohinder. Dude, what is your problem?? He underestimated Sylar, then he got jacked up and stuck on the ceiling. But then Peter shows up and Mohinder manages to knock Sylar out... and he leaves Sylar alive and escapes with Peter's body!! Is he insane or what? At the very least if he was unable to kill him for personal moral reasons he should've, I dunno, broken both his legs, tied him up, put the IV back in him... SOMETHING! Jeez!

Matt. Matt is the butt monkey of the show. Luckily, Mr. Benett told him exactly what to do to escape from Primatech. Now we have the unlikely trio of Matt, Mr. Benett and Ted, the radioactive guy.

Last but not least, Isaac. I couldn't believe Isaac gave himself up like that and literally laid back and let Sylar cut his head open in a pseudo crucifixion scene. That pissed me off. I have to assume that something about having Isaac's power will have a negative impact on Sylar, but I hated that. He went out soft.

I guessing the comic book pages and sketchbook Isaac gave to the Asian guy moments before Sylar showed up has some clues the remaining heroes will use to kill Sylar.

Questions: Where's Mrs. Bennet? Where's Mr. Muggles? What happened to the Haitian?

Alec Baldwin Gets Nasty with Daughter

2007-04-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

Whoa! TMZ.com broke an ugly tirade from Alec Baldwin directed at his 11-year-old daughter. He's going through a seriously nasty divorce from Kim Bassinger and it looks like he's taking it out on his daughter.

From TMZ:

An enraged Alec Baldwin unleashed a volcanic tirade of threats and insults on his 11-year-old daughter, Ireland, calling her a "thoughtless little pig," and bashing her mother Kim Basinger -- and TMZ has obtained the whole thing unfiltered and raw. And we've learned, a family law judge was so alarmed after hearing the tape, she has temporarily barred Baldwin from having any contact with his child.

After Ireland failed to answer her father's scheduled phone call from New York on April 11, Alec went berserk on her voice mail, saying "Once again, I have made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone," adding, "you have insulted me for the last time."

Switching his train of thought, Baldwin then exercised his incredible parenting skills and took a shot at his ex-wife, declaring, "I don't give a damn that you're 12-years-old or 11-years-old, or a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care about what you do." The irate Baldwin went on to say, "You've made me feel like s**t" and threatened to "straighten your ass out."

"This crap you pull on me with this goddamn phone situation that you would never dream of doing to your mother," screamed Baldwin, "and you do it to me constantly over and over again."

Before hanging up, Baldwin warned the child, "You better be ready Friday the 20th to meet with me."

Listen to the mp3.

Nasty! I feel threatened, and he ain't talking to me.

Read more...

The Walk-off: Part Deux

2007-04-19T20:11:00.000-04:00

New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez, right, celebrates with teammates and coaches after hitting a two-out, walk-off, three-run home run in the Yankees 8-6 win over the Cleveland Indians in their baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, April 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Who Was Seung-Hui Cho?

2007-04-18T21:34:00.000-04:00

Today the tragic and senseless Virginia Tech massacre got even stranger. NBC news in New York received a package sent to them by the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, after the dorm shooting but before the engineering building shootings.

From the L.A. Times:

Shortly before Seung-hui Cho gunned down 30 people in Norris Hall, the Virginia Tech senior apparently mailed a large package to NBC News containing rambling messages about his anger at the wealthy and alluding to the slaughter that was about to take place.

"You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option," Cho said in one of the QuickTime videos included in the package, in which he compared himself to Jesus and the two shooters at Columbine High School.

NBC received the package today and broadcast excerpts of the videos this evening on "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams."

The package also contained more than two dozen photos of the Cho, including 11 of him aggressively thrusting pistols at the camera. Cho, 23, did not explain his exact motives for the killings, but expressed rage and resentment in an 1,800-word, profanity-laced diatribe that Williams described as a "multimedia manifesto."

This guy was totally in his own world. I'm still waiting to hear something from his family, or someone who actually grew up with him. There must've been somebody.

I also find it interesting that race hasn't been raised in this case except for NBC's Clint Van Zandt, who hinted (with no evidence) on MSNBC on Monday that Cho's shooting spree may have been an "honor killing" of some kind because he may have been spurned by a woman and "needed to save face." If an alienated black student had shot 32 people, I have no doubt that the massacre would've been painted as a bias incident, and not a mental health incident.

While we're on the mental health issue, I like how in Virginia when one fills out an application for a gun permit, they ask you if you've ever been diagnosed with a mental disorder and they take your word for it when you say no. That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard of.

Read more...

Minnesota's Muslim cab drivers face crackdown

2007-04-17T21:19:00.000-04:00

From Reuters:

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Muslim cab drivers at Minnesota's biggest airport will face new penalties including a two-year revocation of their taxi permits if they refuse to give rides to travelers carrying liquor or accompanied by dogs, the board overseeing operations ruled Monday.

Gosh, no one in New York has ever denied me a ride when I'm trashed and I have my pooch with me. These Minnesotans are so unreasonable.

Read more...

32 Killed in Massacre at Virginia Tech

2007-04-16T20:14:00.000-04:00

The Waco Siege ended in April. The Oklahoma City bombing happened in April. Columbine happened in April. Now this.

What is it about April? Specifically the third week of April?

In honor of Jackie Robinson Day...

2007-04-15T22:38:00.000-04:00

In honor of Jackie Robinson Day, Mariano Rivera, the last man allowed to wear number 42 as his official number, blows his first save of the year.

**SIGH**

Yankees lose a heartbreaker to Oakland, victim of a walk-off home run with two outs, two strikes on the batter in the bottom of the ninth. The flipside of what A-Rod did to the Orioles last Saturday.

**SIGH**

Unexpected Imus Fallout, Part II: WFAN in Deep Doo Doo

2007-04-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

As mentioned in my Thursday post, Imus accounted for a whopping 25% of the revenue for radio station WFAN. In the wake of his firing by parent company CBS, it's an understatement to say that the station is in deep doo doo as they scramble to replace his spot. In the meantime, Mike & The Mad Dog are going to be on twice a day, for a total of something like 8 hours. How can they possibly keep that up?

From the New York Times:

Yesterday there was clearly no succession plan in place for Mr. Imus, but for the next two weeks, Mike Francesa and Christopher Russo, who are the co-hosts of the afternoon “Mike and Mad Dog” show on WFAN, will fill in, working from 6 to 10 a.m., tweaking their two-man act to have a slightly more national flavor. After the midday hosts, Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts, expand their show to 2 p.m., Mr. Francesa and Mr. Russo will return to the air for the afternoon drive shift, from 2 to 6, which will be cut temporarily from their usual 1 to 6:30 p.m. slot.
Mr. Russo also said the program would be heard on all the stations that received “Imus in the Morning,” except those in Boston and Washington. A Westwood spokeswoman said she could not verify that.
Mike Barnicle, a frequent guest of Mr. Imus and the host of a talk show in Boston, was considered as an interim replacement, “but it didn’t work out,” said Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for CBS Radio.
Mr. Francesa and Mr. Russo were first teamed at WFAN in 1989, two years after it pioneered the sports-radio format. Mr. Imus was never a sports aficionado, but sports were frequently discussed on his program.
He often tapped Mr. Francesa and Mr. Russo — whom he dubbed “Fatso and Fruit Loops” — for their sports knowledge. Ultimately, it was Mr. Imus’s toxic mix of sports and a racist comment that led to his stunningly abrupt fall.
“This place is reeling,” Mr. Russo said by telephone yesterday during a break in their program. Mr. Francesa, also during a break for commercials, added: “He was the rock upon which WFAN’s success and ‘Mike and the Mad Dog’s’ success were built. No ifs, ands or buts.”

Trouble. This is my favorite station. I'd hate to see the whole station go down because of one guy.

Read more...

Unexpected Imus Fallout, Part I: NJ Gov. Corzine Critically Injured

2007-04-13T20:49:00.000-04:00

Unbelievable! New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was critically injured on the way to the Rutgers summit between Imus and the girls’ basketball team.

From the New York Times:

Months of painful rehabilitation could well limit Mr. Corzine’s physical and political stamina for tackling such an array of problems that would challenge the healthiest and most established of political figures.

The crash occurred about 6:15 p.m. Thursday in the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway, about five miles north of the Atlantic City Expressway. The governor’s Chevrolet Suburban swerved to avoid a Dodge Ram truck that had, in turn, turned to avoid a red pickup that was described by the police as driving erratically.

The Suburban slid into the end of a guardrail, which “penetrated the vehicle, and struck both Rasinski and Governor Corzine,” according to a police report.

Mr. Corzine’s left thigh bone, or femur, was fractured, and it punched two holes through his skin. He lost about half of the blood in his body, requiring seven units during surgery Thursday night, and broke six ribs on each side, along with his sternum, collarbone and a lower vertebra.

Doctors provided few details about the extent of internal injuries, the arc of Thursday night’s treatment, or the prognosis for recovery. Mr. Corzine remained unable to speak because of the breathing tube.

Wow. He’s really messed up, to put it mildly. Very, very scary.

Outta Here

2007-04-12T18:55:00.000-04:00

Good riddance. Dropped by MSNBC yesterday, fired today by CBS.

From Bloomberg:

CBS Fires Imus, Joins MSNBC, After Racist Comments (Update3)
By Don Jeffrey

April 12 (Bloomberg) -- CBS Radio fired talk-show host Don Imus after his racially charged comments sparked protests from civil-rights leaders and advertisers.

CBS Radio said ``Imus in the Morning'' will be off the air permanently, making the decision a day after cable-television network MSNBC canceled its simulcast of the show.

``All of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air,'' CBS Corp. Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said today in an e-mailed statement. New York-based CBS owns CBS Radio.

Imus called the Rutgers University women's basketball team ``nappy-headed hos'' on April 4. CBS and MSNBC reversed an earlier decision to suspend the host for two weeks as calls for his firing grew louder and the show's largest advertisers, including General Motors Corp. and Sprint Nextel Corp., pulled their ads.

Imus's ability to attract high-profile political guests such as John McCain, John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman, drew listeners and made it the top-grossing show on CBS. He generated more than 25 percent of the revenue for CBS's WFAN radio station in New York, or about $12 million, according to Mark Fratrik, vice president of BIA Financial Network, a broadcast consulting firm in Chantilly, Virginia. The show was carried on more than 60 stations across the country.

Preston Wilson says racial issues remain in baseball

2007-04-11T19:28:00.000-04:00

I came across this tidbit a few weeks ago.

From STLtoday.com:

When it announced the first annual Civil Rights Game between the Cardinals and Cleveland Indians less than four months ago, Major League Baseball envisioned this weekend as a commemoration of the civil rights movement and baseball's role in enacting social change.

Cardinals outfielder Preston Wilson, meanwhile, notices that he is part of another change: the game's ever-diminishing minority of African-American players.

The veteran Wilson is the only African-American player on the Cardinals' projected opening day roster. He has witnessed the steady ebb of black athletes from the game for two decades.

"I think the perception is if there's a dark-skinned Latin guy out there, then he's black," Wilson said before Friday's game against the Memphis Redbirds. "A lot of people don't differentiate. But it's not the case. There are a lot of issues involved."

Uh, but Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, Vladimir Guerrero, Big Papi, etc. are black. Right? And I'm pretty certain that African-American kids aren't playing the game because they like other sports more, not because white people are keeping them off the diamond. Right?

Read more...

Primatech Paper Company - Heroes Fans

2007-04-10T19:05:00.000-04:00

For the Heroes fans out there, I invite you to visit the very nondescript website of Primatech Paper Company.

Find the helix hidden in the logo on the 'About us' page.
Log in with :

id: bennet
pw: claire

Enjoy!

En Fuego!

2007-04-09T18:14:00.000-04:00

Unbelievable. Look who came out the box hot – A-Rod, leading the league in homers and RBI and sharing Player of The Week honors with Vladimir Guerrero.

I especially loved Saturday’s game. Two outs in the 9th, three men manage to get on base, A-Rod’s down to his last strike, BOOM! Grand slam. Awesome. I screamed and scared poor Orlando.

Too bad it’s April. If only A- Rod could’ve done this against the Tigers in October. **SIGH**

From Yankees.com:

Alex Rodriguez felt so good after his walk-off grand slam on Saturday he thought he'd add to it, so the Yankees third baseman slugged a two-run homer in his next at-bat the following day.

"I'm having a good time," Rodriguez said Sunday.

The Orioles, however, were not enjoying Rodriguez's success. Their pitching staff was at the mercy of the 2003 and 2005 AL MVP as A-Rod was 5-for-11 against Baltimore (.455) with three homers and eight RBIs.

His performance earned him the distinction of receiving the season's first AL Player of the Week award, which he'll share with Angels right fielder Vladimir Guerrero.

Rodriguez, a 10-time All-Star, went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs on Opening Day against Tampa Bay, and drove in another run Tuesday. It was a refreshing change from the postseason struggles he endured at the end of the 2006 season, and Yankees manager Joe Torre credits part of it to a lack of hesitation in Rodriguez's swings.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T09:17:00.000-04:00

Don Imus: Racist

2007-04-07T09:45:00.000-04:00

Just another in a long line of foul comments by this aging piece of filth.

I have a personal take on this situation. I'm forced to watch this guy every morning at work because we have a large screen TV forever tuned to MSNBC. I raised concerns about Imus's racial remarks to the head of Communications at the company I work for seven years ago because the company is a sponsor of the show and of the Imus Ranch. He blew me off. Maybe if sponsorship had been pulled then, these girls from Rutgers never would've be insulted.

So Wrong

2007-04-06T19:23:00.000-04:00

From Reuters:

LONDON (Reuters) - A British dentist was found guilty Thursday of urinating in his surgery sink and using dental tools meant for patients to clean his fingernails and ears.

A medical tribunal said it was satisfied the evidence showed 51-year-old Alan Hutchinson, who "routinely" did not wear gloves or wash his hands, had risked the health of "himself, staff and patients" for more than 28 years.

A dental nurse who worked for Hutchinson for 16 years said she had caught him urinating in the sink more than once.

"He was tucking something into his trousers before zipping them up hastily. I walked over and I was behind him. He moved to the left and I could smell urine," the nurse told the tribunal.

A later hearing will decide if the dentist's unhygienic habits impaired his ability to treat patients, and if so, whether he should banned from practicing.

What does he have to do to be banned? That's not enough?? Eww!

Happy Birthday, Orlando!

2007-04-05T17:34:00.000-04:00

Coyote makes sandwich run; stops at Chicago Quiznos

2007-04-04T19:01:00.000-04:00

From USA Today:

CHICAGO (AP) — For one day, at least, the roadrunner was safe. It seems the coyote was hankering for another kind of fast food.

Employees and customers at a downtown Chicago Quiznos sandwich shop were stunned to see a coyote walk through the propped-open front door Tuesday afternoon and lie down in a cooler stocked with fruit juice and soda.

"It wasn't aggressive at all," restaurant manager Bina Patel told the Chicago Tribune. "It was just looking around."

Employees and customers calmly cleared out of the restaurant, though some took the time to finish their sandwiches and snap some cell-phone photos, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Animal control officers took the passive coyote away after about 40 minutes, after a curious crowd had gathered outside.

"This one definitely I will definitely remember forever. A coyote in downtown Chicago," Quiznos employee Rick Torres told WLS-TV.

LOL! The coyote was kinda cute. They released it to the wild about an hour ago. I remember about two years ago a coyote wandered into Central Park here in New York. It mysteriously died in custody. That happens a lot here. Not the coyote part.

Podcast Delay. Dammit!

2007-04-03T18:32:00.000-04:00

**SIGH**

I'm off to a bad start already. I did some tests and I really need a larger hard drive to handle all of the sound files and the new programs I want to install to accommodate this podcast. An external drive doesn't cut it because there're only two USB ports on the laptop and I need those for the trackball and the preamp.

So, I'm going to have to drop off my laptop at Tekserve. I probably won't get it back in time to do my podcast on Sunday, but I'll see what I can do with my ancient G4 Titanium...

Baseball Season 2007: Predictions

2007-04-02T22:32:00.000-04:00

I’m starting my baseball season podcast (hopefully) this Sunday, but I felt I needed to put out my predictions ahead of time.

American League

East: Yankees

Central: Tigers

West: Angels

Wild Card: White Sox

National League

East: Mets

Central: Cubs

West: Dodgers

Wild Card: Phillies

Division Series Matchups

American League

Yankees vs. White Sox

Angels vs. Tigers

National League

Mets vs. Dodgers

Cubs vs. Phillies

League Championship Series Matchups

American League

Yankees vs. Tigers

National League

Mets vs. Cubs

World Series

Yankees vs. Mets

World Champs

Yankees (What did you think I’d say??)

Surprise Team of 2007

Milwaukee Brewers. I think they’ll flirt with the Wild Card all year. I’m also pretty confident that Atlanta isn’t going to be a cellar dweller this year.

Lightning McQueen Cake

2007-04-01T18:29:00.000-04:00

Orlando's birthday party was today. The cake came out beautiful! Great job by his great aunts on all the food and decorations.

America - The Quizzes

2007-03-31T12:01:00.000-04:00

You Belong in the USA

Sweet!
People either love you or hate you
And you really don't care what anyone thinks
Big and bold, you do things your way

What English Speaking Country Are You?

You Are 90% "Average American"

You are average because you don't think people should be jailed for using marijuana.

You are not average since you have (at least) a college degree.

How "Average American" Are You?

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 9 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

True

2007-03-30T22:49:00.000-04:00

Such a classic.

Ukrainian Swimming Coach Attacks Daughter

2007-03-29T18:53:00.000-04:00

From the Denver Post:

Melbourne, Australia - Ukraine team official Mihail Zubkov was suspended by world swimming authorities today for assaulting his daughter Kateryna, a swimmer, at the world championships.

FINA's temporary ban bars Zubkov from working as a coach or official under its jurisdiction until a final decision has been made, following an appeal by his lawyer.

In TV footage captured on Tuesday, Zubkov was shown scuffling with his 20-year-old daughter, Kateryna Zubkova, at Rod Laver Arena.

Zubkov, who is Kateryna's coach, was stripped of his accreditation at the event and banned by Australian officials from making any contact with his daughter. He is due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday, where police will seek to extend an intervention order - forbidding Zubkov from going within 200 meters of his daughter - until he leaves Australia at the end of the week.

What an asshole that guy is!!

Read more...

So Sick

2007-03-28T23:44:00.000-04:00

I am so sick of Sanjaya. Whew!

I never watched American Idol before this season, but my fifteen-year-old cousin got me into it while she was visiting from Panama. At first Sanjaya was kinda funny, but it's getting out of hand now. He seemed a little arrogant on the last show, like he's believing his own hype.

Still, I kinda hope he goes all the way and wins so Simon is totally pissed off. That's worth seeing.

The Return of Danny Almonte

2007-03-27T19:36:00.000-04:00

Just when I thought we'd never again hear from Danny Almonte, that Dominican kid that pitched a perfect game in the Little League World Series when he was too old, here's the latest -- he's finally signed a minor league deal.

From CBS Sportsline.com:

MARION, Ill. -- Pitcher Danny Almonte, who gained notoriety for playing in the 2001 Little League World Series at the age of 14, has signed a deal with the Southern Illinois Miners.

The 20-year-old Almonte is the ninth pitcher to join the Miners.

"There are not too many young lefties with his quality of stuff sitting out there," Miners manager Mike Pinto said in a statement Tuesday. "He has a 90s-plus fastball and an excellent slider. From our conversations, Danny is a quiet and shy young man who just wants a chance to showcase his talents."

He may yet find his way to the Bronx.

Read more...

What's up...

2007-03-26T22:31:00.000-04:00

What's up with this guy's head??

This is Dr. Joshua Perper, the medical examiner for Broward County, FL. He just released the autopsy report for Anna Nicole Smith today and told everyone what we already knew -- she overdosed.

I couldn't stop staring at his head. It looks like a horn!

Family Watchdog

2007-03-25T20:39:00.000-04:00

If you want to creep yourself out, go to FamilyWatchdog.us and check out the list of registered sex offenders in your zip code.

According to this site, there are 876 in my neighborhood. WTF? That has to be wrong.

UPDATE: Okay, I read the map wrong. There are only 25 rapists within a 5 block radius. Twelve of them live in the same building. The 876 figure may be for the entire borough.

Orlando's Big Day

2007-03-24T20:34:00.000-04:00

Orlando's first birthday is coming up! His party theme is the Disney movie Cars. We ordered a bunch of stuff from Birthday Express and got a Lightning McQueen cake pan from Wilton's. Cute!

Chicago Police Officer Savagely Beats Barmaid

2007-03-23T11:12:00.000-04:00

Anti-Hillary YouTube Video Maker Revealed

2007-03-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

You've all seen this video by now. Yesterday it was revealed that the person behind the ad was tangentially associated with the Obama campaign after all.

From ABC News:

The presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was rocked by revelations Wednesday night that one of its contracted employees was the creator of a scathing YouTube video against his opponent Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., despite Obama's insistance that he had nothing to do with it.

Phil de Vellis, until Wednesday an employee of the company that handles Obama's Web site, boasted in a posting on the Huffington Post that he made the ad, though he claimed neither the Obama campaign nor his former employer, Blue State Digital — which does software development and hosting for Obama's campaign — was aware that he had.

"The specific point of the ad was that Obama represents a new kind of politics, and that Senator Clinton's 'conversation' is disingenuous," de Vellis wrote of the critical ad that uses an Apple computer TV ad to make Clinton appear like Big Brother. "And the underlying point was that the old political machine no longer holds all the power."

"This ad was not the first citizen ad, and it will not be the last," de Vellis wrote ominously. "The game has changed."

The admission threatened to besmirch Obama's pledge to run a clean campaign that doesn't attack his opponents, not to mention statements Obama made earlier this week about the ad.

It's great to have intelligent people trying to pitch in, isn't it? BTW, I'm not feeling Obama at all. More about that some other time.

Read more...

Beatboxing Dog

2007-03-21T20:44:00.000-04:00

Would you buy a grill from this man?

2007-03-20T19:53:00.000-04:00

No lie, Manny Ramirez is selling his used grill on eBay.

It doesn't look like he's doing it for charity, so...? LOL!

Template Update

2007-03-19T21:25:00.000-04:00

I'm too tired to think of anything to blog about tonight, so I updated my blog template and I'm writing about that.

Okay, that was cheesy, but a post is a post.

Microsoft Bribes Companies to Use Search

2007-03-18T12:25:00.000-04:00

From John Battelle's Search Blog:

...Microsoft is offering its large enterprise customers free service and product credits if those customers push Live search inside their enterprises. Called "Microsoft Service Credits for Web Search," a Powerpoint overview of the program sent to me states:

"Employees search the web daily with tools from Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo. OEMs and web sites are already earning credits based on searches that their users bring. Now, your organization can earn credits for Microsoft web searches and redeem them for Microsoft or preferred partner deployment and training services. More searches earns more credits towards the services you value."

The value is non-trivial - the presentation estimates companies can get from $2 to $10 per computer annually, plus a $25K "enrollment credit". For sites that have tens of thousands of computers, that can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in free stuff from Microsoft. Most large enterprises spend millions on Microsoft services and software each year. It's not hard to imagine a CFO getting slightly moist over savings like these.

So sleazy! In other words, Microsoft can't create a better search product, so they're paying folks to use their inferior shit.

Read more...

Foreign Films

2007-03-17T23:04:00.000-04:00

I swiped this idea, with some modifications, from jali's house. Below are some foreign films worth seeing. They aren't ranked in order of preference, or any particular order.

Rabbit-Proof Fence: An Australian film about some half-aborigine children who escape from an orphanage and go on an impossibly long trek to reunite with their family. Very sad.

Lagaan: An Indian film about a group of villagers who respond to a British wager and form a rag-tag cricket team. If they win the match, their villages will avoid the crushing British taxes for three years. If they lose, they'll have to pay three times as much. The film runs about four hours, so be prepared.

Dirty Pretty Things: Murder complicates the lives of illegal immigrants struggling to survive in London. Very sympathetic characters.

The "Up" Series: Starting in 1964 with Seven Up, British director Michael Apted began what has to be the longest-running reality series. A group of seven-year-old children were filmed and interviewed and every seven years a new film is released showing how they're doing. In the most recent movie, the "kids" are now 49-years-old.

Most of them turned out about the way you'd expect -- the wealthy kids with the benefits of good schooling ended up with good careers. The biracial kid whose mom put him in a boys home for a year when he was seven (because it was embarrassing back then for a white girl to have a black kid) ended up working factory jobs and running a forklift. There were some surprises, such as how badly all of the girls ended up emotionally regardless of economic background. And one guy from a solid middle-class background dropped out of university and began a long downward spiral into homelessness before being rescued by another subject who was the son of a missionary.

Once Were Warriors: A drunken, out of work, violent father. Two sons in gangs. A battered wife and her young daughter try to hold the family together. Sounds like any of a number of inner-city American movies, but this one takes place in New Zealand. Stars Temuera Morrison, long before his role as Jango Fett in Star Wars: Episode II.

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love: Nope, not a porn movie. Actually, pretty damn depressing. A wealthy woman and her servant, whom she treats like shit, grow up together, grow apart, and have really bad luck with men. Stars Naveen Andrews (Sayid from Lost) as a mean asshole.

"Mail" The Force Be With You

2007-03-16T17:56:00.000-04:00

The U.S. Postal Services is helping celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars by unveiling R2D2 mailboxes.

They're so darn cute! People are gonna deface them or steal them. You know this.

Read more...

Free Coffee

2007-03-15T08:16:00.000-04:00

Find a store near you

Drive: The Next Big Thing

2007-03-14T08:44:00.000-04:00

Yo, I may regret saying this, but I'm getting a vibe about this upcoming new show called Drive that's going to drop on Fox on April 15-16. I think this could be the next Prison Break.

Here's the teaser from the official site:

The next time you’re cut off by crazed drivers on your way to work, give them a little slack. They could be racing for their lives.

DRIVE is an action-fueled drama following a diverse group of Americans competing for their lives (or the lives of their loved ones) in an illegal, underground cross-country road race. Some of them have been coerced into joining “The Race”; others have sought out The Race themselves, hearing rumors of the $32-million prize. Each has a reason to compete. And each must win.

This could be the shit. Or it could be Cannonball Run. Or that cartoon with Muttley in it.

Learn more...

The Return of Sammy?

2007-03-13T20:39:00.000-04:00

Texas Rangers' Sammy Sosa follows through on a single to center in the third inning off a pitch from Chicago White Sox' Gavin Floyd during a spring training baseball game in Surprise, Ariz., Tuesday, March 13, 2007.

Sosa says he feels like a rookie again after a season away from the diamond. Sosa had two hits and two runs on three at-bats with an RBI in the 12-8 loss to the White Sox. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

First Podcast. Not.

2007-03-12T20:34:00.000-04:00

Nope, I'm not anywhere near close to doing my first podcast. I assembled all of my gear and I wasn't getting any response from the mic. That was so irritating. I didn't want to pack all this stuff up and send it back, so at 4 p.m. I dashed off to the nearest music store (Guitar Center) and had a chat with a salesman. He couldn't really diagnose the problem, but I ended up buying yet another piece of gear ( a mobile pre-amp), and when I got home, that worked.

So, I really might have to ship the mixer back. which I really don't want to do, 'cause that's gonna be a big hassle. I don't want to ship back the mic, 'cause the mic is fine, but it was part of the package deal.

I've been messing around for the last two hours using GarageBand and figuring out recording levels. At first there was an unacceptable amount of background hiss, but I think part of that is coming from the wireless router!

I couldn't understand why I was only hearing vocals through one ear until it dawned on me that to record in stereo, I would need two mics. :) I also accidentally discovered some filters that made my voice sound like a robot. I thought I would need some expensive program to do that when all along I already had it for free on my Mac. Cool.

UPDATE: I'm glad to say I've got the Alesis mixer working. Whew. I have no idea what to do with most of the buttons and knobs, however. I now realize that I probably could've gotten along with something with fewer inputs, but this was the one the podcast books recommended. Hmph.

Got my gear!

2007-03-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

My Podcast Starter Kit gear arrived on Wednesday!

It consists of:

An Audio-Technica AT2020 condenser mic
An Alesis MultiMix8 USB mixer
An Atlas DS7 desk mic stand, ProCo 5 ft. mic cable, and a USB cable
Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Podcasting
I also picked up a pop filter and a disk of broadcast sound effects.

Now I need to test this stuff to make sure it's working...

There was a good article about authors who are podcasting their work in the NY Times on March 1. I like Scott Sigler's work. Lots of amusing profanity and over the top characters. I'm currently listening to The Rookie and I enjoyed Earthcore, Ancestor and Infection.

Several times a week Mr. Sigler, 37, steps into a walk-in closet in his San Francisco home. He reads into a microphone that connects to his computer via a sound mixer. Hanging shirts envelop him, masking ambient sound.
After being snubbed by publishers for years, Mr. Sigler began recording his first book, “EarthCore,” in 2005. He offered it as a podcast in 22 episodes (roughly 45 minutes each) that he posted online and sent free to subscribers for downloading. Before long, Mr. Sigler had 5,000 listeners; by the time he finished releasing his second novel, “Ancestor,” last January, he had 30,000, as he does for “The Rookie,” which is playing now.
With initial printings of novelists’ first books running as low as 2,000 copies, Mr. Sigler has a substantial audience, enough finally to attract a small Canadian publisher, Dragon Moon Press, which published “EarthCore” in 2005 and will release “Ancestor” on April 1.
Mr. Sigler also recently signed with a New York agent, Byrd Leavell of the Waxman Agency, who expects to park his latest, “Infection,” with a major publisher.
Others have turned to the Internet to build their audience, including Cory Doctorow, who offered the text of “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom” as a free download in 2003. But Mr. Sigler is among the vanguard of authors stapling their literary aspirations to the iPod.
“A lot of no-name authors like me are getting massive grass-roots exposure, and some of us are going to percolate to the top and get on the best-seller list,” Mr. Sigler said.

His site has links to his podcasts.

March Forward

2007-03-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

Well, as everyone is by now aware, we're setting the clocks forward three weeks early this year. This is supposedly supposed to save us energy, but I wonder how much money was spent by the companies that had to create and install software patches to cope with the change in the Daylight Savings time date?

Duh.

I'm pretty sure my computers will handle the change without a hiccup, but it looks like I need a patch for my Palm Zire PDA. I may need them for my cellphone and my older TiVo too.

What a pain in the ass!

Babylon 5: Lost Tales

2007-03-09T19:21:00.000-05:00

Looks like Babylon 5 is returning to the screen. Cool! That was a kick-ass show. I got into it late. Many people told me how good it was, but every time I watched it, I invariably caught the worst show of the season. Then they started running it on TNT (or was it TBS?) five nights a week and I finally "got it."

Article about the production of the show here. They used to use Amigas to do the effects! Amazing.

Saucy Email Exchanges Revealed In Astronaut Case

2007-03-08T21:28:00.000-05:00

From Access Hollywood:

ORLANDO, Fla. (March 6, 2007) -- Astronaut Bill Oefelein was in orbit aboard the space shuttle in December when he was sent a steamy e-mail from a girlfriend awaiting his return: "First urge will be to rip your clothes off, throw you on the ground and love the hell out of you."
Fellow astronaut Lisa Nowak apparently discovered that e-mail -- and some other romantic messages to Oefelein -- before she set off on her bizarre, 900-mile road-trip to confront her rival for Oefelein's affections.

Click here to view the e-mails.

Lewis "Scooter" Libby - Wiki Style

2007-03-07T09:18:00.000-05:00

LOL!

Gotta love Wikipedia. They've cleaned up his entry already, of course.

Image swiped from Wonkette's blog.

Vazquez Gets $34.5 Million, 3-year Extension From White Sox

2007-03-06T18:58:00.000-05:00

From Excite:

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -Pitcher Javier Vazquez and the Chicago White Sox agreed Tuesday to a $34.5 million, three-year contract extension through 2010.
Vazquez will get $12.5 million this season, the final year of his current contract, and $11.5 million in each of the following three seasons.
The right-hander, who went 11-12 with a 4.84 ERA with the White Sox a year ago, is 100-105 overall in 10 major league seasons. He pitched three innings Tuesday against Colorado, giving up four runs and six hits.

Big waste of money, if you ask me. His record clearly shows he's a .500 pitcher, averaging 10 wins, 10 losses. He started the year well for the Yanks in that year I'd like to forget (2004), but he tanked in the second half.

Er, wasn't he the one who gave up that bomb to Johnny Damon in the 7th game of the ALCS?

Read more...

Man wanted for trying to revive father's corpse

2007-03-05T21:44:00.000-05:00

From Reuters.com:

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistani police are hunting a man who dug up his father's two-year old corpse and took it home in a hijacked ambulance to try to bring him back to life.

We used to do this all the time in D&D. What's the big deal?

Read more...

Demande D'Informations

2007-03-04T22:16:00.000-05:00

Vous vous appelez comment?
Quel est votre nom?
Quelle est votre profession?

[My job has me in an eight-week French class. I'm doing my homework for tomorrow's class. I don't like this book. This is some kind of total immersion class, so nothing is translated. This is not helpful, in my opinion.]

Un informaticien vietnamien
Une standardiste espagnole...