Game 6, Shea Stadium, Queens, New York
Friday, February 17, 2012
Notes from a Friday Afternoon
1) Tim Wakefield has retired.
I love this clip, even though it is from the Onion.
But look at him warming up, that movement is...weird.
Yet another reason for me to only pay attention to the Red Sox this year in order to knowledgeably mock their fans.
2) Speaking of baseball, I have been falling asleep to Ken Burns' Baseball. This has created interesting dreams including dreams where a friend is talking as if she were Doris Kearns Goodwin. This is interesting for a couple of reasons. Largely, it is interesting because I love this friend and I loathe DKG. (Allowing for my soft spot for Wait Till Next Year which as a memoir and not a piece of scholarship stands up to scrutiny.)
3) Still on baseball, I realized that I had never read The Bad Guys Won fully. I had read excerpts and did own a paper copy of it but that was given to someone. When Gary Carter passed yesterday after a long battle with cancer, I thought back to '86 and the Mets and when my love of baseball was cemented. One of my brother's childhood friends had an autographed photo of Roger Clemens and Gary Carter standing together from the '86 series and I still covet it. Reading this book, and the often boorish behavior of these players that I looked up to is a compelling read for any baseball fan.
4) I have heard Whitney Houston's rendition of The Star Spangled Banner often over the past week and while I do admit that it was a supremely good performance, the patriotic song that makes me the most...proud to be an American while being stunned by the beauty of the performance, I choose this one.
5) Troy's reputation for crassness and down market lifestyle was fully cemented in my mind last night. If you are an adult female, and you say that you are "madddd angry" after you get bounced from a bar for starting a fight, then complaining about losing the money you spent on your drink, you have an interesting priority set.
I love this clip, even though it is from the Onion.
But look at him warming up, that movement is...weird.
Yet another reason for me to only pay attention to the Red Sox this year in order to knowledgeably mock their fans.
2) Speaking of baseball, I have been falling asleep to Ken Burns' Baseball. This has created interesting dreams including dreams where a friend is talking as if she were Doris Kearns Goodwin. This is interesting for a couple of reasons. Largely, it is interesting because I love this friend and I loathe DKG. (Allowing for my soft spot for Wait Till Next Year which as a memoir and not a piece of scholarship stands up to scrutiny.)
3) Still on baseball, I realized that I had never read The Bad Guys Won fully. I had read excerpts and did own a paper copy of it but that was given to someone. When Gary Carter passed yesterday after a long battle with cancer, I thought back to '86 and the Mets and when my love of baseball was cemented. One of my brother's childhood friends had an autographed photo of Roger Clemens and Gary Carter standing together from the '86 series and I still covet it. Reading this book, and the often boorish behavior of these players that I looked up to is a compelling read for any baseball fan.
4) I have heard Whitney Houston's rendition of The Star Spangled Banner often over the past week and while I do admit that it was a supremely good performance, the patriotic song that makes me the most...proud to be an American while being stunned by the beauty of the performance, I choose this one.
5) Troy's reputation for crassness and down market lifestyle was fully cemented in my mind last night. If you are an adult female, and you say that you are "madddd angry" after you get bounced from a bar for starting a fight, then complaining about losing the money you spent on your drink, you have an interesting priority set.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
RIP Kid
God Speed, Gary Carter!
Thank you for helping make me a Mets fan.
Condolences to the Carter family.
Thank you for helping make me a Mets fan.
Condolences to the Carter family.
The Hunger Games Post
The Hunger Games comes out in 35 days and I am curious to see what they do with the film.
So, here is some of the information that I have read recently.
From io9: 10 Things from the Hunger Games Books That The Movies Can't Pull Off
From Pitchfork: Arcade Fire Has Two Songs on the Hunger Games Soundtrack, Plus Listen to the Decemberists' Track
From Slate: Arcade Fire on The Hunger Games Soundtrack: Did they record an old Civil War tune?
From Vulture: Josh Hutcherson on Journey 2, Playing Pranks, and The Hunger Games. (Vulture has a lot of good interviews with the principal cast and production staff of the film. Including Beauty Product Ads from Panem)
(Full disclosure, Julia Turner and Emily Bazelon both recommended them on their various Slate podcasts, but I did not read them until HJ77 suggested that I read them. Now that other friends have read them, I do have people to talk about them with.)
So, here is some of the information that I have read recently.
From io9: 10 Things from the Hunger Games Books That The Movies Can't Pull Off
From Pitchfork: Arcade Fire Has Two Songs on the Hunger Games Soundtrack, Plus Listen to the Decemberists' Track
From Slate: Arcade Fire on The Hunger Games Soundtrack: Did they record an old Civil War tune?
From Vulture: Josh Hutcherson on Journey 2, Playing Pranks, and The Hunger Games. (Vulture has a lot of good interviews with the principal cast and production staff of the film. Including Beauty Product Ads from Panem)
(Full disclosure, Julia Turner and Emily Bazelon both recommended them on their various Slate podcasts, but I did not read them until HJ77 suggested that I read them. Now that other friends have read them, I do have people to talk about them with.)
Bitterness and Bad Romance
Spin (remember Spin, they are still around and their website is interesting, especially for aging Xers) has a list of the 33 Bitterest Songs Ever.
From the List:
25. Lucinda Williams - "Come On"
18. Mr. T Experience - "New Girlfriend"
10. Liz Phair - "Divorce Song"
6. PJ Harvey - "Rid of Me"
What is on your bitter song list?
I do, unsurprisingly, have my own list and 10. is on my list...of course it it.
Thursday needs more Loki
Yes, I made an semi-obscure pun (and a bad one at that) in the title.
1) Top Chef: Are you watching? Were you shocked? I so want to spoil here but I will not.
2) Very shortly, I am headed out to breakfast at Duncan's Dairy Bar which has reopened, meaning that spring is coming, and I am looking forward to poached eggs, rye toast, and diner coffee. This may very well be the highlight of my day. (Times Union review, who was obviously looking for someplace else.)
3)I think this is a Buzz Bissinger joke. (If you have no clue, see the Daily Beast piece.)
I am a Celtics fan and I have been since I was a child. It makes sense in a number of ways, but it is nice to see the Knicks be competitive. It would be nicer if Time Warner and MSG/Cablevision would make a deal so that people could actually SEE the Knicks being competitive.
4) For some reason, this song came into my head while I was working out. I do wish I knew why.
5a) Christina Ricci!
5b) I love that this song is being used in the advertisements for The Lorax!
1) Top Chef: Are you watching? Were you shocked? I so want to spoil here but I will not.
2) Very shortly, I am headed out to breakfast at Duncan's Dairy Bar which has reopened, meaning that spring is coming, and I am looking forward to poached eggs, rye toast, and diner coffee. This may very well be the highlight of my day. (Times Union review, who was obviously looking for someplace else.)
3)I think this is a Buzz Bissinger joke. (If you have no clue, see the Daily Beast piece.)
I am a Celtics fan and I have been since I was a child. It makes sense in a number of ways, but it is nice to see the Knicks be competitive. It would be nicer if Time Warner and MSG/Cablevision would make a deal so that people could actually SEE the Knicks being competitive.
4) For some reason, this song came into my head while I was working out. I do wish I knew why.
5a) Christina Ricci!
5b) I love that this song is being used in the advertisements for The Lorax!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The Best Burger in the 518
I asked, via social media, last night who had the best burger in the 518.
Why?
Because Teacher Dave was headed to New York for the day and mentioned HIMYM's "Best Burger in New York" and I wondered who had the best burger in the 518.
Watch Marshall talk about the burger in Italian
These were the suggestions:
The Brown Bag (Troy)
The Point (Albany) Randy was emphatic about this.
Beff's(Colonie)
Juicy Burger (Guilderland)
The Stadium Cafe (Saratoga)
Sutter's Mill (Albany)
New World Bistro Bar (Albany)
McGeary's (Albany)
Capital City Gastropub (Albany)
Yanni's Too (Coeymans)
Of the places on this list, I have had burgers at Beff's (Used to be good, now not so much.) Sutter's (often wonderful), McGeary's (very good, but I prefer the sliders) and Juicy (tasty but I am not sure).
I was surprised to see The Hill Street Cafe left off this list and pleasantly surprised to see only one chain on the list.
What is your favorite burger place?
Why?
Because Teacher Dave was headed to New York for the day and mentioned HIMYM's "Best Burger in New York" and I wondered who had the best burger in the 518.
Watch Marshall talk about the burger in Italian
These were the suggestions:
The Brown Bag (Troy)
The Point (Albany) Randy was emphatic about this.
Beff's(Colonie)
Juicy Burger (Guilderland)
The Stadium Cafe (Saratoga)
Sutter's Mill (Albany)
New World Bistro Bar (Albany)
McGeary's (Albany)
Capital City Gastropub (Albany)
Yanni's Too (Coeymans)
Of the places on this list, I have had burgers at Beff's (Used to be good, now not so much.) Sutter's (often wonderful), McGeary's (very good, but I prefer the sliders) and Juicy (tasty but I am not sure).
I was surprised to see The Hill Street Cafe left off this list and pleasantly surprised to see only one chain on the list.
What is your favorite burger place?
My Worst Valentine's Day
I noticed from various social media sites that you all seemed to have wonderful Valentine's Days, at least those of you who shared, and I am very happy for you all. My day was uneventful and that was wonderfully expected. This is not a story of yesterday, but yesterday from 2007.
Om February 14, 2007, I was in Colorado Springs, Colorado, staying at the Broadmoor with a flight scheduled to leave at 11 AM MST. Around 7 AM local, my boss called me and suggested I stay another night (on the company's dime) because of the storm that was scheduled to hit the Eastern Seaboard. I called the airline (Major Carrier, based out of ORD) and they told me that I would be able to be home on time. I called my boss back and explained that I wanted to be home with my-then-wife and my child for Valentine's Day. When I arrived at the airport, I asked the nice young woman if I would be able to get home before I checked my bags. She cheerily replied, "Of course!" (Later, I would find out that she was lying to me and my flight from ORD to ALB had already been cancelled. Nice, no?) I called my-then-wife (which for the purposes of simplicity, I will refer to as MTW going forward) and told her I would be home soon.
I remember the flight well, watching 30 Rock on my iPod, and reading some classically awesome William Gibson. When I landed in Chicago, it was really cold (frigidly cold) and there was snow blowing sideways. I was...concerned. As soon as I landed and saw people all over the airport, not waiting as much as having a look that I associate with grainy black and white films of the liberation of German work camps (not the death camps and I am not making an equivalence between being stuck in a modern airport with a lot of amenities to the horrors of the Holocaust. I know that if I do not include this, someone is going to snark about it and well, that is unnecessary...I mean, come on!) and I freaked out. I looked up at the Arrivals/Departures Board and my flight was cancelled. I called MTW and freaked out. I was not in a good place. MTW was calm and supportive and was in Albany with our four year old and probably worried about how she was going to handle the storm. It was not my finest moment.
Anyway, after standing in line for what seemed like an eternity of of fluorescent Hell (think the DMV but much much worse) but was only ninety minutes or so, I was flying standby on every flight the next day and I had a voucher for a room at the national chain motel. I did not have my bags, but I was assured that there were various items in the motel store (only the next morning did I learn that there was a Minneapolis based chain store down the street from the hotel) so I had a clean t-shirt and clean socks as well as things to clean myself up with. It was 8 PM CST and I was hungry. I was supposed to be home with my family, enjoying Valentine's Day, and instead I was in a crappy chain hotel and miserable. I had forgotten that it was actually Valentine's Day though until I walked into the hotel bar and noticed that there was a Single's Dance going on.
Do you know how miserable it is to be someone at a Single's event, in a craptacular chain in a cold and lonely city on Valentine's Day?
I had my pizza, my beer, called MTW to wish her a Happy Valentine's Day and apologize for my behavior earlier and I wept before falling asleep.
(For those of you who care, I did not end up getting home until the 16th.)
Om February 14, 2007, I was in Colorado Springs, Colorado, staying at the Broadmoor with a flight scheduled to leave at 11 AM MST. Around 7 AM local, my boss called me and suggested I stay another night (on the company's dime) because of the storm that was scheduled to hit the Eastern Seaboard. I called the airline (Major Carrier, based out of ORD) and they told me that I would be able to be home on time. I called my boss back and explained that I wanted to be home with my-then-wife and my child for Valentine's Day. When I arrived at the airport, I asked the nice young woman if I would be able to get home before I checked my bags. She cheerily replied, "Of course!" (Later, I would find out that she was lying to me and my flight from ORD to ALB had already been cancelled. Nice, no?) I called my-then-wife (which for the purposes of simplicity, I will refer to as MTW going forward) and told her I would be home soon.
I remember the flight well, watching 30 Rock on my iPod, and reading some classically awesome William Gibson. When I landed in Chicago, it was really cold (frigidly cold) and there was snow blowing sideways. I was...concerned. As soon as I landed and saw people all over the airport, not waiting as much as having a look that I associate with grainy black and white films of the liberation of German work camps (not the death camps and I am not making an equivalence between being stuck in a modern airport with a lot of amenities to the horrors of the Holocaust. I know that if I do not include this, someone is going to snark about it and well, that is unnecessary...I mean, come on!) and I freaked out. I looked up at the Arrivals/Departures Board and my flight was cancelled. I called MTW and freaked out. I was not in a good place. MTW was calm and supportive and was in Albany with our four year old and probably worried about how she was going to handle the storm. It was not my finest moment.
Anyway, after standing in line for what seemed like an eternity of of fluorescent Hell (think the DMV but much much worse) but was only ninety minutes or so, I was flying standby on every flight the next day and I had a voucher for a room at the national chain motel. I did not have my bags, but I was assured that there were various items in the motel store (only the next morning did I learn that there was a Minneapolis based chain store down the street from the hotel) so I had a clean t-shirt and clean socks as well as things to clean myself up with. It was 8 PM CST and I was hungry. I was supposed to be home with my family, enjoying Valentine's Day, and instead I was in a crappy chain hotel and miserable. I had forgotten that it was actually Valentine's Day though until I walked into the hotel bar and noticed that there was a Single's Dance going on.
Do you know how miserable it is to be someone at a Single's event, in a craptacular chain in a cold and lonely city on Valentine's Day?
I had my pizza, my beer, called MTW to wish her a Happy Valentine's Day and apologize for my behavior earlier and I wept before falling asleep.
(For those of you who care, I did not end up getting home until the 16th.)
Five Things To Make Your Wednesday Morning Better
1) Someone in Tennessee wearing a "Best Dad" T-shirt in a really awkward situation.
2) Robes are never sexy, even on Hef, and these robes are no different. They will make that geek in your life very happy. Jedi and Sith Bath Robes from Think Geek.
3) Downton Abbey Meets Mob Wives
4) Love and Annie Hall
5) Terry Malts on Pitchfork TV
2) Robes are never sexy, even on Hef, and these robes are no different. They will make that geek in your life very happy. Jedi and Sith Bath Robes from Think Geek.
3) Downton Abbey Meets Mob Wives
4) Love and Annie Hall
5) Terry Malts on Pitchfork TV
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tail to Tail
I am a huge fan of Requiem for a Dream. It is one of my feel good movies. (Yes, I see the irony in that. No, I am not being ironic. I am assuming that some of your feel good movies are morally ambiguous. Think about it for a second...do you mourn when the people of Alderan are annihilated? Leave me alone about the source of my comfort in an uncomfortable world.)
Below, you can see something even better than "Requiem..." Requiem in 60 Seconds with puppets.
Via Vulture
Below, you can see something even better than "Requiem..." Requiem in 60 Seconds with puppets.
Via Vulture
CBS Cares Gets Weird...er
This ran last night during HIMYM. It also ran a couple of times last year.
It is decidedly odd.
While I really appreciate the message, I find the delivery to be...almost creepy.
It reminded me of this Scrubs PSA Parody.
Toxic Tuesday!
(Yes, I have posted this previously, and I stand by it.)
What did you think of HIMYM last night? Last week was...bad, but this week redeemed itself. (Yes, sometimes great relationships end because someone makes a choice about a notional future and not the reality of the now. Yes, sometimes, you love and support your friends when they think that they are not worth anyone's love and support. And yes, I have been on that last train and no, they were not really exaggerating.)
But on this day of awful chocolates, tacky jewelry, those tasteless yet cloying little candy hearts (which someone suggested would be my plan for the day), I give you a scene from the first season of HIMYM with one of my favorite songs, and if you have been paying attention, you know what song and what scene it is.
Here is a live version of Bloc Party's "This Modern Love"
But that is a happy and hopeful song, and that was a happy and hopeful clip from HIMYM, and that is not what this day is about for a sizable percentage of my friends who are neither happy nor hopeful. Quite the opposite, honestly.
And for that, I give them another great song which is also a favorite:
"No Children" by the Mountain Goats.
But that is not what I am feeling this year...I am feeling something else. Not necessarily sweet and content (I am still a complete douchebag, you know?) but something like that, so...I give you yet another old song with an amazing video.
(Come on, you loved that video even if you did not love the Gabriel cover of a Magnetic Fields song...you can tell me. I grok.)
Anyway, for some, today is Valentine's Day, for others, it is Toxic Tuesday. Have a wonderful day.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Five Things To Make Your Day Better
Yes, the Grammy's were last night and from what I read, there was much love for Chris Brown and Adele (I made a joke earlier that I am not going to repeat, but my place in Hell is called "Awesomeness".)
I read through the list of winners, and aside from Bon Iver, I am shaking my head.
Anyway, here are five things to make your day better.
1) The Drums - Money
I really like this song. It makes me happy.
2)
3) A wonderful piece by DFW regarding Authority and American Usage.
4)The Downton Abbey Anachronism Watch
5) The Single Woman's Guide to Dating from 1938.
I read through the list of winners, and aside from Bon Iver, I am shaking my head.
Anyway, here are five things to make your day better.
1) The Drums - Money
I really like this song. It makes me happy.
2)
3) A wonderful piece by DFW regarding Authority and American Usage.
4)The Downton Abbey Anachronism Watch
5) The Single Woman's Guide to Dating from 1938.
Diner Food
Now that M.A.D. is closed, my favorite diner is Duncan's Dairy Bar which re-opens on February 16th.
I am looking forward to it.
I am looking forward to it.
Monday Monday
• The Walking Dead was great last night. Great in a way that soap opera can be. I just prefer my soap operas to have the living dead. The question of hope resonates with everyone, even if it is not the end of the world. Though I am interested about the new people, because unlike HIMYM, during the apocalypse, new is not always better. Remember, there are more guys back at camp. (For the record, Rick Grimes is a badass.)
• I do not understand people who don't like scary things. Or more to the point, I don't understand why some people don't like the adrenalin rush. (Not withstanding the people that have suffered traumatic abuses and being scared acts as a trigger...I am not that much of a douchebag.) I really enjoy jumping out of my chair when something weird happens.
• Over the last several days, I have had a number of conversations about gender and fairness. TEA offered the best line of the bunch but I appreciate everyone who engaged with me on the topic and the person who inspired it, as well as the person who was accused of inspiring it.
• Every time I return to DFW, I am amazed and chagrined. This time it was about modern language and usage. (See the image)
• To say that I was shocked by the number of calories in a half rack of pork ribs would be an understatement.
• It really is too cold to leave the house this morning.
• I do not understand people who don't like scary things. Or more to the point, I don't understand why some people don't like the adrenalin rush. (Not withstanding the people that have suffered traumatic abuses and being scared acts as a trigger...I am not that much of a douchebag.) I really enjoy jumping out of my chair when something weird happens.
• Over the last several days, I have had a number of conversations about gender and fairness. TEA offered the best line of the bunch but I appreciate everyone who engaged with me on the topic and the person who inspired it, as well as the person who was accused of inspiring it.
• Every time I return to DFW, I am amazed and chagrined. This time it was about modern language and usage. (See the image)
• To say that I was shocked by the number of calories in a half rack of pork ribs would be an understatement.
• It really is too cold to leave the house this morning.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Guess What Returns Tonight?
The Walking Dead!
Apparently there is another show on tonight that features zombies (Maggie Smith is playing a zombie, right?) but this is wonderful and I am happy that it has returned. For those of you who are not watching, you do not know what you are missing.
Update on The Terrible Mistake
Yesterday, TEA and I were supposed to go to the movies to see The Phantom Menace in 3D.
When were arrived at the multiplex, and were queued up in front of the ticket dispenser (I prefer them when I can, but then again, I prefer small locally owned theaters.), TEA asked could we see a different film. I was elated.
TEA's suggestion: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
In as few words as possible, here is a description of the film...
Troubled child gets a message, Stepfather bonds with a trip to Palau, hilarity and terror ensue, the find grandfather, they escape the island.
That being said, the Rock is fun to watch. He does not have much range but he is fun. Michael Caine delivers yet another performance by mail, and Vanessa Hudgens is really cute (and thankfully, 23).
Some of the 3D effects were worth it and...the most important thing...is that TEA loved it.
When were arrived at the multiplex, and were queued up in front of the ticket dispenser (I prefer them when I can, but then again, I prefer small locally owned theaters.), TEA asked could we see a different film. I was elated.
TEA's suggestion: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
In as few words as possible, here is a description of the film...
Troubled child gets a message, Stepfather bonds with a trip to Palau, hilarity and terror ensue, the find grandfather, they escape the island.
That being said, the Rock is fun to watch. He does not have much range but he is fun. Michael Caine delivers yet another performance by mail, and Vanessa Hudgens is really cute (and thankfully, 23).
Some of the 3D effects were worth it and...the most important thing...is that TEA loved it.
Get Andy Zaltzman on Doctor Who
I have mentioned my love of The Bugle Podcast before.
Every week, the esteemed Andy Zaltzman will run off a series of puns about something. This week, Zaltzman decided to run off a series of puns about Charles Dickens (in a dubious celebration of the two hundredth centennial of the author's birth) and it was painful. Horribly painful.
So painful that Mr. Zaltzman needs to be hit with a stick by Mr. Dickens.
Here is my suggestion: Mr. Zaltzman should have a minor role on Doctor Who where the current Doctor (Matt Smith) drags him back to 1869 so that Andy can be hit with a stick by Mr. Dickens.
The Doctor has met Dickens before (see below), so this is old hat, and I am sure that Mr. Zaltzman would love the publicity...it's not The Smurfs (wow...The Smurfs has a wiki. Who knew?) but it is something. Plus as the new series is currently filming, time can be taken to make this work. Justice must be served.
If you think this is a good idea, contact everyone you can, including the nice folks at The Bugle.
So painful that Mr. Zaltzman needs to be hit with a stick by Mr. Dickens.
Here is my suggestion: Mr. Zaltzman should have a minor role on Doctor Who where the current Doctor (Matt Smith) drags him back to 1869 so that Andy can be hit with a stick by Mr. Dickens.
The Doctor has met Dickens before (see below), so this is old hat, and I am sure that Mr. Zaltzman would love the publicity...it's not The Smurfs (wow...The Smurfs has a wiki. Who knew?) but it is something. Plus as the new series is currently filming, time can be taken to make this work. Justice must be served.
If you think this is a good idea, contact everyone you can, including the nice folks at The Bugle.
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