On Wednesday, author J.D. Salinger died. Salinger was best known as the author of The Catcher in the Rye which I must have read at least part of at some point in my life. I do remember reading the first part of Franny and Zooey, although I really don't remember anything about the book. At the time, I happened to be suck in the bathroom for an extended period of time. For future reference, don't order a rare steak at a cheap diner. I know El has copies of both books, as well as Nine Stories, so perhaps I'll get around to reading some of Salinger's works eventually.
I am more familiar with Salinger as a character in W.P. Kinsella's book Shoeless Joe which is the source for the movie Field of Dreams. The main character in the book, Ray Kinsella, travels to the New Hampshire home of the reclusive Salinger. In the movie, Salinger's character is replaced by the fictional Terence Mann played by James Earl Jones. (Jones is not dead, even though his character in an episode of House was killed by Dr. Chase). Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, fulfills Mann's childhood dream of attending a Boston Red Sox game at Finway Park. Then after a stop in Minnesota, they travel back to Kinsella's home in Iowa where he has carved out the baseball field in the middle of his corn field.
I think that Shoeless Joe and Field of Dreams fall into that rare category of movie adaptions that are better than the original book. In most cases, movies are pale comparisons of their sources. Examples of movies that are poor reflections of their source material are the adaptions of books by Michael Crichton or John Grisham. I think there are several reason movies fail to live up to their source material. One reason is that full-length novels are really too long to be converted into two-hour movies. Much of the plot must be reworked and shortened to fit into the allotted time space. Often subplots not considered essential have to be dropped altogether. I think short stories and novellas make better source materials for movies. Regardless of the length, written material has another major downfall for the film format. Thoughts and internal dialog are easily expressed by written words but have to be expressed in movies using the dreaded voice-over or a lengthy monologue. Otherwise, the same ideas have to be converted to dialog between characters. In the case of Field of Dreams, I think the movie is improved by trimming up the plot of Shoeless Joe. Mostly though, the film is better because the book lacks the epic monologue by James Earl Jones on baseball.
The only other book and movie pair that I think falls into the movie-is-better category is Forrest Gump. The book by Winston Groom was turned into the multiple-award-winning movie starring Tom Hanks. The book and its sequel, Gump & Co., are more slapstick comedy with the title character being more of a big lug. The movie version maintains the comedic feel, but adds more touching moments. Also, Hanks brings a more sympathetic feel to Gump. In addition to Field of Dreams and Forrest Gump, two other things that I group together for an obscure reason are Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting and Helter Skelter by the Beatles. Both songs are harder-rocking departures for Elton John and Paul McCartney, neither of which are exactly Led Zepplin.
Random Thoughts: While thinking about Helter Skelter and then Charles Manson, I had the thought that there is no such thing as good and evil. Of course, the same thought has occurred to many people throughout history. Instead of absolute good and absolute evil, each individual person has his or her own concepts of right and wrong. The best that can be hoped for is to have a majority of people agree on those basic concepts. Even that situation is fraught with uncertainty. Imagine a society where the majority of people belonged to a religion that revolved around human sacrifice and sex with children. Instead of murder and child molestation being the epitome of evil, they would be holy acts. The victims of those horrendous crimes would be celebrated for giving their bodies to the glory of whichever god or gods. Also, the perception of some actions can change as society and religion evolve. An example is Christianity's views regarding alcohol. The consumption of alcohol is central to the Bible which may have been written by a bunch of drunks. Christianity even considers wine is to be the blood of Christ. Yet today, many Christian denominations frown on the consumption of alcohol if not forbidding it completely.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Read a Good Movie Lately?
Beer Update: There is only one liter left from the first batch of home brew. That bottle needs to get emptied, so I can get the second batch bottled tomorrow. I'm sure that I can take care of it somehow.
We got a bit of winter weather around here yesterday evening, so I skipped the regularly-scheduled neighborhood gathering. El saw her plans canceled due to the weather, so we stayed home and watched DVDs. One of the DVDs recently delivered from Netflix was The Lives of Others, a 2006 film from Germany. The setting for the movie is East Germany several years prior to the fall of the Berlin wall. The plot of involves a playwright named Georg Dreyman and the intelligence officer from the state security agency, known as the Stasi, whose assignment is to listen in on Dreyman and his girlfriend in their bugged apartment. While monitoring and reporting on the couple, the officer, who is also a professor at the Stasi training school, gets caught up in their lives.
The playwright Dreyman is played by Sebastian Koch who I recognized from a Dutch film that we saw a few months ago. In Black Book, Koch played a Nazi SS officer during World War II. He is the target of a spy for the Dutch resistance whose family had been gunned down by German soldiers while she and they were trying to escape from the Nazi-occupied country. The black book from the title of the film contains the list of Jews that an informant has turn over to Nazis.
I think both The Lives of Others and Black Book fall into the spy or political thriller category, and I enjoyed both movies. However, both films are in German (and Dutch for Black Book), so we watched them with English subtitles. The problem that I (and I think most people) have with subtitles is that I am busy reading the dialog instead of actually watching the movie. I end up feeling that I missed a large part of the movie. A lot of DVDs offer the option of overdubbing, but I find the mismatch between the actors and their overdubbed voices even more distracting and annoying than subtitles. Regardless of subtitles or overdubbing, I am sure that some of the dialog gets mixed up in the translation to English, the same way that some of the jokes, puns and snappy one-liners from American movies must get garbled when those films are translated from English to other languages.
We got a bit of winter weather around here yesterday evening, so I skipped the regularly-scheduled neighborhood gathering. El saw her plans canceled due to the weather, so we stayed home and watched DVDs. One of the DVDs recently delivered from Netflix was The Lives of Others, a 2006 film from Germany. The setting for the movie is East Germany several years prior to the fall of the Berlin wall. The plot of involves a playwright named Georg Dreyman and the intelligence officer from the state security agency, known as the Stasi, whose assignment is to listen in on Dreyman and his girlfriend in their bugged apartment. While monitoring and reporting on the couple, the officer, who is also a professor at the Stasi training school, gets caught up in their lives.
The playwright Dreyman is played by Sebastian Koch who I recognized from a Dutch film that we saw a few months ago. In Black Book, Koch played a Nazi SS officer during World War II. He is the target of a spy for the Dutch resistance whose family had been gunned down by German soldiers while she and they were trying to escape from the Nazi-occupied country. The black book from the title of the film contains the list of Jews that an informant has turn over to Nazis.
I think both The Lives of Others and Black Book fall into the spy or political thriller category, and I enjoyed both movies. However, both films are in German (and Dutch for Black Book), so we watched them with English subtitles. The problem that I (and I think most people) have with subtitles is that I am busy reading the dialog instead of actually watching the movie. I end up feeling that I missed a large part of the movie. A lot of DVDs offer the option of overdubbing, but I find the mismatch between the actors and their overdubbed voices even more distracting and annoying than subtitles. Regardless of subtitles or overdubbing, I am sure that some of the dialog gets mixed up in the translation to English, the same way that some of the jokes, puns and snappy one-liners from American movies must get garbled when those films are translated from English to other languages.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Living in the Past
On Saturday, El and I stopped by our local used book store where I picked up some new-to-me reading material. Included among my purchases was the book that I'm currently reading, Empire, which is the part of Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series (or American Chronicles as the publishers preferred). I have been reading the novels in the series in chronological order by history as opposed to the order in which the books were originally published. Thus, I have previously read Burr, Lincoln, and 1876. I liked Burr and Lincoln, but I think those books were helped by the built-in drama from the time periods they covered. Particularly, each novel included a significant country-shaping war. I thought 1876 was a bit drier and harder to get through since the plot revolved around that year's bitter drawn-out election (not to be confused with other bitter, drawn-out elections).
I haven't read any of Vidal's other works, but in addition to the remaining books in this series (next on the list is Washington, D.C. which I also bought on Saturday), I plan on reading some of his other historical fiction novels, particularly Julian and Creation. Although I wouldn't say that I have read a ton of historical fiction, in general, I like the genre. For instance, I enjoyed Wilbur Smith's series of novels set in ancient Egypt, including River God and Warlock. I also have a book of Egyptian whodunnits but that might not actually qualify as historical fiction.
I recently finished Orson Scott Card's Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus. That book is also suppose to be a part of a series, but so far it is the only installment. As I eluded to in my short review on Goodreads, I didn't really care for the book. While the general idea was interesting and the book was well written, the Christian overtones (which are understandable as Card is a devout Mormon) were a bit much for me. The general idea of the book seems to be that the Native Americans would have fared much better if their religions were more like psuedo-Christianity.
Pastwatch would also probably not be considered historical fiction, but would be an alternate history. There is the element of time travel, so it could also be consider historical fantasy or science fantasy. To split hairs, stories that include time travel should not be considered science fiction, but rather science fantasy, since time travel is generally not considered to be scientifically possible. Faster-than-light travel is also not considered scientifically possible, so works that included FTL travel would also be science fantasy. Yes, both Star Wars and Star Trek are science fantasy and not science fiction. You wouldn't actually be able to hear those non-existent explosions anyway since there is no air in space to carry the sound or make the combustion possible. Laser guns and perhaps teleportation (but probably only inanimate objects) would be science fiction since they are theoretically possible. Of course, annoying Bluetooth devices are here today.
There are lots of other futuristic elements that are also theoretically possible and fall squarely in the realm of science fiction. Traveling to distant reaches of space while in suspended animation or in giant ships that contain whole civilizations are thought to be possible with more advanced technology. Conversely, staying right here on Earth while being connected to vast computer network is also fair game for science fiction. This was the basic element of the Matrix series of movies, although that series ventured into science fantasy with its more mystical elements.
Personally, I thought the whole plot of the Matrix series was silly. Being educated as an engineer, I know that even advanced machines are simply tools designed by humans for use by humans. I have to assume that even self-aware machines would follow their basic design and programming. I think Morpheus's explanation for how the world of the Matrix came to be quite is unreasonable. It would be much more likely that two or more groups of people went to war with each other and started the destruction of the planet. I would assume the intelligent machines were thus designed the save the human race, and they probably concluded that isolation was the only possible way to protect humans from each other and as well as from themselves. Considering our current plugged-in society, I doubt there would be too much resistance to this permanently jacked-in state, particularly after a generation or two. Every person's needs were adequately met which is quite a contrast to our current reality. Of course, it is quite possible that my preferred explanation was actually the final resolution for the whole series, and I just missed it.
I haven't read any of Vidal's other works, but in addition to the remaining books in this series (next on the list is Washington, D.C. which I also bought on Saturday), I plan on reading some of his other historical fiction novels, particularly Julian and Creation. Although I wouldn't say that I have read a ton of historical fiction, in general, I like the genre. For instance, I enjoyed Wilbur Smith's series of novels set in ancient Egypt, including River God and Warlock. I also have a book of Egyptian whodunnits but that might not actually qualify as historical fiction.
I recently finished Orson Scott Card's Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus. That book is also suppose to be a part of a series, but so far it is the only installment. As I eluded to in my short review on Goodreads, I didn't really care for the book. While the general idea was interesting and the book was well written, the Christian overtones (which are understandable as Card is a devout Mormon) were a bit much for me. The general idea of the book seems to be that the Native Americans would have fared much better if their religions were more like psuedo-Christianity.
Pastwatch would also probably not be considered historical fiction, but would be an alternate history. There is the element of time travel, so it could also be consider historical fantasy or science fantasy. To split hairs, stories that include time travel should not be considered science fiction, but rather science fantasy, since time travel is generally not considered to be scientifically possible. Faster-than-light travel is also not considered scientifically possible, so works that included FTL travel would also be science fantasy. Yes, both Star Wars and Star Trek are science fantasy and not science fiction. You wouldn't actually be able to hear those non-existent explosions anyway since there is no air in space to carry the sound or make the combustion possible. Laser guns and perhaps teleportation (but probably only inanimate objects) would be science fiction since they are theoretically possible. Of course, annoying Bluetooth devices are here today.
There are lots of other futuristic elements that are also theoretically possible and fall squarely in the realm of science fiction. Traveling to distant reaches of space while in suspended animation or in giant ships that contain whole civilizations are thought to be possible with more advanced technology. Conversely, staying right here on Earth while being connected to vast computer network is also fair game for science fiction. This was the basic element of the Matrix series of movies, although that series ventured into science fantasy with its more mystical elements.
Personally, I thought the whole plot of the Matrix series was silly. Being educated as an engineer, I know that even advanced machines are simply tools designed by humans for use by humans. I have to assume that even self-aware machines would follow their basic design and programming. I think Morpheus's explanation for how the world of the Matrix came to be quite is unreasonable. It would be much more likely that two or more groups of people went to war with each other and started the destruction of the planet. I would assume the intelligent machines were thus designed the save the human race, and they probably concluded that isolation was the only possible way to protect humans from each other and as well as from themselves. Considering our current plugged-in society, I doubt there would be too much resistance to this permanently jacked-in state, particularly after a generation or two. Every person's needs were adequately met which is quite a contrast to our current reality. Of course, it is quite possible that my preferred explanation was actually the final resolution for the whole series, and I just missed it.
Monday, January 25, 2010
My Favorite Things
As I mentioned in my first post, my girlfriend El has been blogging for years. Her site is over at erigby.com, and she kindly mentioned my humble page a couple of weeks ago. She occasionally mentions me in her posts including snippets of our more humorous conversations covering such wide topics as dorkiness, post titles, and personality types. Of course, not all of our conversations make one of her posts. In response to my comments on her television viewing habits, she told me that she does not actively follow the Ghost Whisperer. I know that she likes to have the TV on for background noise particularly while she is busy in the kitchen or on her computer. She ends up on the Ghost Whisperer because it always seems to be on. Reruns of the show are in constant rotation on SyFy, WE and ION networks. I think she is also fascinated by Jennifer Love Hewitt's (a.k.a. J-Love or some such) complete lack of acting ability. Of course, J-Love is also know for lacking of any discernible musical ability.
There are only two things that El and her family really know that I like. Those two favorite things of mine being books and beer. On gift-giving occasions, El's family tends to give me books, beer, and of course, books on beer. That is pretty fine by me. This past Christmas, El's mom gave me When We Were Wolves which is a collection of short stories by Jon Billman who is suppose to be an up-and-coming new author. The stories that he spins are based in the western United States, primarily in Wyoming, but also in Utah, Montana and South Dakota. The eponymous story involves a hockey team from a Wyoming state penitentiary and their coach who is the prison's priest. Other stories cover trout fishing, smuggling honey out of and alcohol into Utah (the Beehive State), and passing time with idle U.S. Forest Service firefighters. All in all, the stories opened doors to ways of life that were outside my personal experience, and yet in some ways, quite familiar.
In other news, I was chatting with my friend Alan today, and we were discussing doing our taxes. Two months ago, Alan's wife gave birth to their first baby, a little girl name Ashlee. Alan mentioned how they get to claim Ashlee as a dependent for the whole of 2009 even though she was only born in mid-November. Of course, he did not so much care for my idea that newborns should be prorated as dependents for tax purposes. Then again, I also think tax credits for children should be dropped in favor of child luxury taxes.
There are only two things that El and her family really know that I like. Those two favorite things of mine being books and beer. On gift-giving occasions, El's family tends to give me books, beer, and of course, books on beer. That is pretty fine by me. This past Christmas, El's mom gave me When We Were Wolves which is a collection of short stories by Jon Billman who is suppose to be an up-and-coming new author. The stories that he spins are based in the western United States, primarily in Wyoming, but also in Utah, Montana and South Dakota. The eponymous story involves a hockey team from a Wyoming state penitentiary and their coach who is the prison's priest. Other stories cover trout fishing, smuggling honey out of and alcohol into Utah (the Beehive State), and passing time with idle U.S. Forest Service firefighters. All in all, the stories opened doors to ways of life that were outside my personal experience, and yet in some ways, quite familiar.
In other news, I was chatting with my friend Alan today, and we were discussing doing our taxes. Two months ago, Alan's wife gave birth to their first baby, a little girl name Ashlee. Alan mentioned how they get to claim Ashlee as a dependent for the whole of 2009 even though she was only born in mid-November. Of course, he did not so much care for my idea that newborns should be prorated as dependents for tax purposes. Then again, I also think tax credits for children should be dropped in favor of child luxury taxes.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
A Modest Proposal, Part II
This post is a continuation of my proposal for improving the NFL which I started three weeks ago. In that post, I suggested that the two legacy conferences be eliminated. Of course, that suggestion would be potentially controversial. It would be a major change and would have multiple repercussions in other aspects of how the league operates.
Obviously, eliminating the two conferences is in itself a major change to how the teams are aligned. In my basic proposal, the directional divisions are simply combined, and the current alignment of those divisions would be maintained. However, some alternate configurations could be desirable. One suggestion that I have, even in the current arrangement of NFL conferences and divisions, would be to correct some geographical irregularities by rotating Indianapolis north, Baltimore east, and Miami south.
Of course, this still leaves the lunacy of centrally-located Dallas being in the East Division, but I do not think that the NFL is really prepared to change the strong rivalries of the NFC East.
One benefit of having larger divisions is that the arrangement would be better suited to handling a possible relocation of one of the 32 teams. The current hot topic in possible team movements is the Jacksonville Jaguars moving to the west coast to occupy a new stadium currently under consideration in the Los Angeles area. Under the current configuration, realigning teams to handle that possibility would probably involve teams switching conferences. The simplest suggestion would be to swap the Jags and the St. Louis Rams. Under my proposal, that simple suggestion makes much more sense because the Rams would then be reunited with Atlanta, New Orleans and Carolina from the old NFC West.
Another area where my proposal would have a major impact is the regular season schedule. I think that the current 16-game regular season is perfectly balanced. Each team plays the other three teams in its division twice, once at home and once away. Also on the schedule are four teams from a division in the other conference, four teams from another division in the same conference, and two teams from the other two divisions in the same conference that finished in the same place in their division. Therefore, the schedule for each team includes four teams that finished the previous season first in their division, four teams that were second, four that were third, and four that were fourth.
Under my proposal, each team's schedule would still be balanced. Each team would play 14 divisional games by playing each of the other seven teams in its division twice, once at home and once away. The remaining two games would be against teams from two of the other divisions that finished in the same place in their division. Another suggestion would be to go with a current proposal to drop two preseason games and add a 17th regular season game. With a 17-game regular season, there would be 14 divisional games plus a game each versus the team from the other three divisions that finished in the same place.
In the third part of my proposal, I will tackle changes to the NFL postseason and the Pro Bowl.
2. Realignment
Obviously, eliminating the two conferences is in itself a major change to how the teams are aligned. In my basic proposal, the directional divisions are simply combined, and the current alignment of those divisions would be maintained. However, some alternate configurations could be desirable. One suggestion that I have, even in the current arrangement of NFL conferences and divisions, would be to correct some geographical irregularities by rotating Indianapolis north, Baltimore east, and Miami south.
| West Division | North Division | South Division | East Division |
| Arizona Denver Kansas City Oakland San Diego San Francisco Seattle St. Louis |
Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Detroit Green Bay Indianapolis Minnesota Pittsburgh |
Atlanta Carolina Houston Jacksonville Miami New Orleans Tampa Bay Tennessee |
Baltimore Buffalo Dallas New England New York Giants New York Jets Philadelphia Washington |
3. Relocation
One benefit of having larger divisions is that the arrangement would be better suited to handling a possible relocation of one of the 32 teams. The current hot topic in possible team movements is the Jacksonville Jaguars moving to the west coast to occupy a new stadium currently under consideration in the Los Angeles area. Under the current configuration, realigning teams to handle that possibility would probably involve teams switching conferences. The simplest suggestion would be to swap the Jags and the St. Louis Rams. Under my proposal, that simple suggestion makes much more sense because the Rams would then be reunited with Atlanta, New Orleans and Carolina from the old NFC West.
| West Division | North Division | South Division | East Division |
| Arizona Denver Kansas City LA Jaguars Oakland San Diego San Francisco Seattle |
Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Detroit Green Bay Indianapolis Minnesota Pittsburgh |
Atlanta Carolina Houston Miami New Orleans St. Louis Tampa Bay Tennessee |
Baltimore Buffalo Dallas New England New York Giants New York Jets Philadelphia Washington |
4. Regular Season Schedule
Another area where my proposal would have a major impact is the regular season schedule. I think that the current 16-game regular season is perfectly balanced. Each team plays the other three teams in its division twice, once at home and once away. Also on the schedule are four teams from a division in the other conference, four teams from another division in the same conference, and two teams from the other two divisions in the same conference that finished in the same place in their division. Therefore, the schedule for each team includes four teams that finished the previous season first in their division, four teams that were second, four that were third, and four that were fourth.
Under my proposal, each team's schedule would still be balanced. Each team would play 14 divisional games by playing each of the other seven teams in its division twice, once at home and once away. The remaining two games would be against teams from two of the other divisions that finished in the same place in their division. Another suggestion would be to go with a current proposal to drop two preseason games and add a 17th regular season game. With a 17-game regular season, there would be 14 divisional games plus a game each versus the team from the other three divisions that finished in the same place.
In the third part of my proposal, I will tackle changes to the NFL postseason and the Pro Bowl.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Tall Blue Ewoks
My girlfriend and I finally got around to catching Avatar. We saw it in 3D at the local IMAX. Tickets have been selling out, so I bought tickets online a few days earlier. We got there early, but we should have gotten there even earlier. We ended up on the third row which is too close for IMAX. At least it was better than when we saw the latest Star Trek movie from the first row of the IMAX theater.
As pontificated around the Internet, the movie is visually spectacular. The flora, fauna and terrain of the alien moon Pandora are quite imaginative, although the floating mountains strains my suspension of disbelieve. Despite the uproar from both sides of the political spectrum, the plot is unfortunately a predictable yawner. The political right is a bit upset that the movie glorifies the killing of mostly white American-ish soldiers. The corporate mercenaries could easily be exchanged for American Marines or even easier for modern-day corporate mercenaries while the native Na'vi could easily be exchanged for Native Americans, Vietnamese, Iraqis or Afghans. (Yes, I had to check Wikipedia for the proper term (i.e. demonym) for the residents of Afghanistan. I wanted the term to be "Afghani" which turns out to be the currency and language.) On the political left, the complaint is that Avatar is just another movie about a white guy saving the natives in the vein of Dances with Wolves.
In fact, Avatar really does seem to just be a remake of that Kevin Costner epic but with large blue humanoids playing the part of the natives. There is also a good dose of Apocalypse Now (Pandora seems a bit like Vietnam) and Return of the Jedi (primate natives fighting technically advanced invaders, just swapping the tall, blue Na'vi with small, furry Ewoks) and a healthy dash of Braveheart (again natives, both blue, fighting more advanced invaders). Of course, James Cameron seems to have something for Sigourney Weaver and mechanical, exoskeleton suits, just not together in this movie.
As pontificated around the Internet, the movie is visually spectacular. The flora, fauna and terrain of the alien moon Pandora are quite imaginative, although the floating mountains strains my suspension of disbelieve. Despite the uproar from both sides of the political spectrum, the plot is unfortunately a predictable yawner. The political right is a bit upset that the movie glorifies the killing of mostly white American-ish soldiers. The corporate mercenaries could easily be exchanged for American Marines or even easier for modern-day corporate mercenaries while the native Na'vi could easily be exchanged for Native Americans, Vietnamese, Iraqis or Afghans. (Yes, I had to check Wikipedia for the proper term (i.e. demonym) for the residents of Afghanistan. I wanted the term to be "Afghani" which turns out to be the currency and language.) On the political left, the complaint is that Avatar is just another movie about a white guy saving the natives in the vein of Dances with Wolves.
In fact, Avatar really does seem to just be a remake of that Kevin Costner epic but with large blue humanoids playing the part of the natives. There is also a good dose of Apocalypse Now (Pandora seems a bit like Vietnam) and Return of the Jedi (primate natives fighting technically advanced invaders, just swapping the tall, blue Na'vi with small, furry Ewoks) and a healthy dash of Braveheart (again natives, both blue, fighting more advanced invaders). Of course, James Cameron seems to have something for Sigourney Weaver and mechanical, exoskeleton suits, just not together in this movie.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
That's Just Brilliant
Allow me to share a personal "D'oh!" moment. Yesterday, I was checking the balance of my checking account, and I noticed something wrong. For all but one of my credit cards, I pay the balance in full every month. When I paid the bill for the other card a few days ago, I must have accidentally selected the option to pay the statement balance instead of just the minimum payment. Instead of paying the $40 minimum payment, I paid the full two grand balance. Fortunately, my checking account is linked to my second mortgage for overdraft protection. However, the only thing on that one card was a balance transfer from several years ago that was at a fixed 3.9% rate for the life of the balance. Most of my credit card debit from college was on that card, and for almost a decade now, I have been paying the minimum payment. With all the recent changes in the credit card industry, that might have been the last balance transfer offer without a cutoff date. The 3.9% rate on this card was a better rate than my first or second mortgage or my consolidated student loan. Now instead two grand with a fixed 3.9% rate, I have two extra grand on my second mortgage with a variable rate currently at 4.25%. Yes, I know it is not a really big deal, but it is enough to get me annoyed with myself.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Monopoly Money
Beer Update: After a hiatus for the holidays, last night was the return of the friendly neighborhood game. I took three bottles of the home brew to share with the gang and got friendly reviews. Today, I decided to start another batch. As for which style to try next, the runaway winner of the popular vote was the High Country Canadian Draft which is now mixed up and in the keg. Check back in two weeks when it is time to bottle.
The other day at work, a friend of mine stopped by my cube to give me a pretend dollar which was my share of the winnings from this season's fantasy league. As I have for the past few years, I was in two fantasy leagues this year. One league is with some guys at work. The other is with my friend Alan from college, his brother Matt (who serves as the league commissioner), and mostly other friends of Matt. For both leagues, the entry fee was ten pretend dollars.
The league at work is a ten-team league while the long-distance league has 12 teams divided into two six-team divisions. For both my leagues, the starting rosters are the general standard for fantasy leagues which consists of one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one RB/WR flex spot, a tight end, a kicker, and a defense/special teams slot. The roster for my work league has six bench slots while the long-distance league has ten bench slots plus two injured reserve slots. Between the number of teams (10 vs. 12) and the size of the rosters (15 vs. 19 plus the two IR slots), it is easy is see that quality players were more readily found on the waiver wire in my work league than in the long-distance league.
Last season in the long-distance league, my team finished with a 7-5-1 record which was good for third in my division and went on to lose in the second round of the playoffs. From last leason, I kept San Francisco RB Frank Gore, Dallas RB Marion Barber, and Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald. In the draft, I didn't pick up a QB until the seventh round. Listening to the advice of my girlfriend, the Bears fan, I picked up Chicago's shiny new poster boy, Jay Cutler which pretty much defined my season. The first part of season was up and down. By week eight, my team's record was 3-4-1, and things looked bleak. However, four straight wins offered some hope, but a loss to the division leader the last week of the regular season knocked my team out of a playoff spot. My team finished at 7-5-1 for the second year in a row, but this year that was only good for fourth in a tough division and I had to settle for the consolation bracket.
Last season in the league at work, my team was a mediocre 5-8, but I was able to pick up and hold onto a certain injured QB for New England. My keepers for this season were Tom Brady and Atlanta RB Michael Turner. I also drafted Marion Barber and New Orleans WR Marques Colston, and in the later rounds, Cutler as my backup QB. As I mentioned previously, a few quality players were available on waiver wire in my work league. Halfway through the season, I picked up Minnesota WR Sidney Rice who was having a breakout year with Brett Favre at the helm of the Viking offense. Interestingly enough, Rice is from my home town of Gaffney, South Carolina, which I did not realize until later while watching the Panthers-Vikings game on Sunday Night Football.
Back to my fantasy team, the season started with fifth-straight wins and things were looking good. Unfortunately, things started to go south with an ankle injury to Turner. My team finished the season on a 2-6 run, but did manage to limp into the playoffs as the fourth seed with a 7-6 record. In the first round of the playoffs, my team surprised the strong top seed who lost Larry Fitzgerald to an right knee injury during the game. My team was unable to keep up the momentum the next week in championship game.
So where did that one pretend dollar come from? The work league pays out for several different things, including the regular season and playoff champions and highest weekly score of the week. It also pays a dollar for the highest score each week, and for the fourth week of the season, my team had the highest score.
The other day at work, a friend of mine stopped by my cube to give me a pretend dollar which was my share of the winnings from this season's fantasy league. As I have for the past few years, I was in two fantasy leagues this year. One league is with some guys at work. The other is with my friend Alan from college, his brother Matt (who serves as the league commissioner), and mostly other friends of Matt. For both leagues, the entry fee was ten pretend dollars.
The league at work is a ten-team league while the long-distance league has 12 teams divided into two six-team divisions. For both my leagues, the starting rosters are the general standard for fantasy leagues which consists of one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one RB/WR flex spot, a tight end, a kicker, and a defense/special teams slot. The roster for my work league has six bench slots while the long-distance league has ten bench slots plus two injured reserve slots. Between the number of teams (10 vs. 12) and the size of the rosters (15 vs. 19 plus the two IR slots), it is easy is see that quality players were more readily found on the waiver wire in my work league than in the long-distance league.
Last season in the long-distance league, my team finished with a 7-5-1 record which was good for third in my division and went on to lose in the second round of the playoffs. From last leason, I kept San Francisco RB Frank Gore, Dallas RB Marion Barber, and Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald. In the draft, I didn't pick up a QB until the seventh round. Listening to the advice of my girlfriend, the Bears fan, I picked up Chicago's shiny new poster boy, Jay Cutler which pretty much defined my season. The first part of season was up and down. By week eight, my team's record was 3-4-1, and things looked bleak. However, four straight wins offered some hope, but a loss to the division leader the last week of the regular season knocked my team out of a playoff spot. My team finished at 7-5-1 for the second year in a row, but this year that was only good for fourth in a tough division and I had to settle for the consolation bracket.
Last season in the league at work, my team was a mediocre 5-8, but I was able to pick up and hold onto a certain injured QB for New England. My keepers for this season were Tom Brady and Atlanta RB Michael Turner. I also drafted Marion Barber and New Orleans WR Marques Colston, and in the later rounds, Cutler as my backup QB. As I mentioned previously, a few quality players were available on waiver wire in my work league. Halfway through the season, I picked up Minnesota WR Sidney Rice who was having a breakout year with Brett Favre at the helm of the Viking offense. Interestingly enough, Rice is from my home town of Gaffney, South Carolina, which I did not realize until later while watching the Panthers-Vikings game on Sunday Night Football.
Back to my fantasy team, the season started with fifth-straight wins and things were looking good. Unfortunately, things started to go south with an ankle injury to Turner. My team finished the season on a 2-6 run, but did manage to limp into the playoffs as the fourth seed with a 7-6 record. In the first round of the playoffs, my team surprised the strong top seed who lost Larry Fitzgerald to an right knee injury during the game. My team was unable to keep up the momentum the next week in championship game.
So where did that one pretend dollar come from? The work league pays out for several different things, including the regular season and playoff champions and highest weekly score of the week. It also pays a dollar for the highest score each week, and for the fourth week of the season, my team had the highest score.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Give Both Defenses a Chance (continued)
I am still a newbie at this whole blog thing, so I am not quite sure if there is an accepted process for editing previous posts. So far, I have made minor changes to most of my previous posts. I have corrected grammatical errors, tried to resolve some formatting issues, and even added the disclaimer to my third post. After posting yesterday, I had some additional thoughts on the topic of the overtime format for the NFL. I originally considered appending my new thoughts to the end of my previous post, but since these ideas seem to be pretty long in their own right, I decided to go with a new post for today instead.
Continuing my thought from yesterday’s post, one idea that is repeated about overtime in the NFL is that the coin flip at the start of OT basically decides the game. The concern is that the team that receives the kickoff will drive down the field and kick a field goal to win with the other team’s offense not having the opportunity to score. Some percentage of the time this does occur. However, it never occurs without the other team’s defense also on field. I think the arguments against the current OT rules show bias against defense and special teams. The gist of those arguments is that offense (and only offense) is important and contributes to the team winning the game. The defense and special teams are just along for the ride. However, the offense, defense and special team units each contribute to the team winning the game. All three should be considered equal parts of the team, and all three are required to play their part to help the team secure the win. When the other team get to receive the kickoff at the start of the game, the team’s kickoff unit and then its defensive unit need to step up to prevent the other team from scoring
As far as the coin flip at the start of OT deciding the game, the same argument can be made for the coin flip at the beginning of the game. If outcome of the opening coin flip had been different for a particular game, the entire flow of that game would have been different, including the final score. One could imagine that from the initial kickoff, two teams exchange scores for the entire game. Team A receives the ball and scores first, and then also happens to have possession at the end of the game and scores to win the game. If Team B had received the kickoff to begin the game, it is entirely possible that the flow of the game would have been similar but with Team B scoring at the end to win the game.
Another argument against the current OT format is that it could prevent the better team from winning the game. However, I do not think that the OT period should be considered as giving the better team an opportunity to win. If you consider the outcome of a particular game as proving which of the two teams is better (at least at that particular time and place), then the answer was already provided prior to OT. The two teams played a full game to a draw thus proving they are equal, neither better than the other. The overtime is just a method for selecting a winner. That is particularly necessary in the playoffs since only one team can move on. If the current method is not much better than flipping a coin, then I do not see that as being unfair. Each team had ample opportunity to secure the win in the first 60 minutes and failed to do so. The chance of wining in OT is 50/50 (i.e. a coin flip), so what is the problem with using a coin flip to start the OT process?
Continuing my thought from yesterday’s post, one idea that is repeated about overtime in the NFL is that the coin flip at the start of OT basically decides the game. The concern is that the team that receives the kickoff will drive down the field and kick a field goal to win with the other team’s offense not having the opportunity to score. Some percentage of the time this does occur. However, it never occurs without the other team’s defense also on field. I think the arguments against the current OT rules show bias against defense and special teams. The gist of those arguments is that offense (and only offense) is important and contributes to the team winning the game. The defense and special teams are just along for the ride. However, the offense, defense and special team units each contribute to the team winning the game. All three should be considered equal parts of the team, and all three are required to play their part to help the team secure the win. When the other team get to receive the kickoff at the start of the game, the team’s kickoff unit and then its defensive unit need to step up to prevent the other team from scoring
As far as the coin flip at the start of OT deciding the game, the same argument can be made for the coin flip at the beginning of the game. If outcome of the opening coin flip had been different for a particular game, the entire flow of that game would have been different, including the final score. One could imagine that from the initial kickoff, two teams exchange scores for the entire game. Team A receives the ball and scores first, and then also happens to have possession at the end of the game and scores to win the game. If Team B had received the kickoff to begin the game, it is entirely possible that the flow of the game would have been similar but with Team B scoring at the end to win the game.
Another argument against the current OT format is that it could prevent the better team from winning the game. However, I do not think that the OT period should be considered as giving the better team an opportunity to win. If you consider the outcome of a particular game as proving which of the two teams is better (at least at that particular time and place), then the answer was already provided prior to OT. The two teams played a full game to a draw thus proving they are equal, neither better than the other. The overtime is just a method for selecting a winner. That is particularly necessary in the playoffs since only one team can move on. If the current method is not much better than flipping a coin, then I do not see that as being unfair. Each team had ample opportunity to secure the win in the first 60 minutes and failed to do so. The chance of wining in OT is 50/50 (i.e. a coin flip), so what is the problem with using a coin flip to start the OT process?
Monday, January 11, 2010
Give Both Defenses a Chance
At the risk of this site becoming a sports blog, with a particular focus on the NFL, I'd like to add my thoughts on a topic related to yesterday's playoff game between Green Bay and Arizona. Full disclosure, I only watched a few plays of the game. I tuned in right before the end of the first half with the Cardinals up 24-7. Figuring another blowout was in progress, my girlfriend (who is a Bears fan with a distaste for the Packers) and I switched to a movie. Low and behold, I checked ESPN after the game was over, and it turns out the game was a barn burner. The Packers rallied in the second half and forced the game into overtime. On the fourth play from scrimmage in the fifth quarter, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked and fumbled the ball which was returned by the Cards for a touchdown. The Cardinals won the game, 51-45, without their offensive taking the field in overtime.
A lot of people (including Bob Costas) have a problem with the NFL's current sudden death format for overtime. The argument is that there is an inherent unfairness with the possibility that one team receives the ball and drives down the field to score and win the game. The most popular suggestion for resolving this issue is requiring that both teams get at least one possession in OT. The variety of other suggestions include requiring a touchdown to win in OT instead of just a field goal, or playing a full 15-minute period (which in the playoffs could then be followed by another quarter and then yet another and so on). Any of those suggestions would be much better than what is used in college football where games can go on forever.
I am perfectly OK with the NFL's current overtime format. Football is a team game, and the defense and special teams should play their part to win games. If one team wins the coin flip and promptly returns the kickoff for a touchdown, I don't see any problem. The other team simply should have done a better job on kickoff coverage. To somebody who supports the proposal that both teams should get possession in OT, my question is what about the Packers-Cardinals game? The Cardinals won without their offensive having possession of the ball. To put it another way, the Packers lost without their defensive getting a chance to make a play in overtime. Under the both-teams-get-possession proposal, would the rules require that after the Cards' defense scored, the Packers kick off to the Cards and force the Cards to play offense in order to give the defense of the Packers a chance to also make a play? That might have been unlikely considering the Arena League score and the fact that the Cards only had one turnover in the game (a lost fumble by Larry Fitzgerald), but I think it would have only been fair.
A lot of people (including Bob Costas) have a problem with the NFL's current sudden death format for overtime. The argument is that there is an inherent unfairness with the possibility that one team receives the ball and drives down the field to score and win the game. The most popular suggestion for resolving this issue is requiring that both teams get at least one possession in OT. The variety of other suggestions include requiring a touchdown to win in OT instead of just a field goal, or playing a full 15-minute period (which in the playoffs could then be followed by another quarter and then yet another and so on). Any of those suggestions would be much better than what is used in college football where games can go on forever.
I am perfectly OK with the NFL's current overtime format. Football is a team game, and the defense and special teams should play their part to win games. If one team wins the coin flip and promptly returns the kickoff for a touchdown, I don't see any problem. The other team simply should have done a better job on kickoff coverage. To somebody who supports the proposal that both teams should get possession in OT, my question is what about the Packers-Cardinals game? The Cardinals won without their offensive having possession of the ball. To put it another way, the Packers lost without their defensive getting a chance to make a play in overtime. Under the both-teams-get-possession proposal, would the rules require that after the Cards' defense scored, the Packers kick off to the Cards and force the Cards to play offense in order to give the defense of the Packers a chance to also make a play? That might have been unlikely considering the Arena League score and the fact that the Cards only had one turnover in the game (a lost fumble by Larry Fitzgerald), but I think it would have only been fair.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Humble Suggestions
Beer Update: Before moving on to the main post, here is an update on the home brew. After a couple of days in the fridge, we opened the second of the one-liter bottles. The general assessment is that it's an improvement over the first bottle. Another week in the bottle helped bump up the carbonation. The taste is still a little on the sweet side, which probably means that I need to work on my sugar measuring skills or perhaps I should investigate priming tabs.
Moving on, this post is not a continuation of my NFL proposal, but a response to this proposal for realigning the NFL based on geography. Of course, there is zero chance the NFL would actually consider realignment based solely on geography. However, I think the proposal is interesting, but could perhaps be improved if the eight four-team divisions were dropped in favor of six divisions having either five or six teams. The suggestion below is geographically correct with Detroit in the Eastern Conference.
A possible improvement over the above solution would be to switch the Lions to the Western Conference and move Tennessee east. Some of the current divisional rivalries could then be maintained.
Detroit is added to the Midwest Division which becomes the current NFC North plus Indianapolis. The two Missouri teams drop down into the Southwest Division, and then Denver could be moved over to the Pacific.
In the Eastern Conference, the Titans go into the Southeastern Division. Baltimore moves over to the North Central Division which becomes the AFC North plus Buffalo.
As I have implied in my NFL proposal, the benefit of fewer divisions is better teams in the playoffs. In the suggestions above, the playoffs would most likely be improved because in each conference, the mediocre winner of a weak fourth division would be replaced by a probably stronger third wild card team.
Finally, what happens if a team (let's say the Jaguars) relocated (let's say to Los Angeles)?
The Jags move into the Pacific Division bumping the Cardinals and Broncos over to the Southwest and Chiefs and Rams the up to the Midwest.
In the Eastern Conference, the Lions slide into the North Central Division with the Ravens moving to the Northeast.
Moving on, this post is not a continuation of my NFL proposal, but a response to this proposal for realigning the NFL based on geography. Of course, there is zero chance the NFL would actually consider realignment based solely on geography. However, I think the proposal is interesting, but could perhaps be improved if the eight four-team divisions were dropped in favor of six divisions having either five or six teams. The suggestion below is geographically correct with Detroit in the Eastern Conference.
Suggestion Number One
Western Conference | ||
Pacific Division | Southwest Division | Midwest Division |
Arizona Oakland San Diego San Francisco Seattle | Dallas Denver Houston New Orleans Tennessee | Chicago Green Bay Indianapolis Kansas City Minnesota St. Louis |
Eastern Conference | ||
North Central Division | Northeast Division | Southeast Division |
Buffalo Cincinnati Cleveland Detroit Pittsburgh | Baltimore New England NY Giants NY Jets Philadelphia Washington | Atlanta Carolina Jacksonville Miami Tampa Bay |
A possible improvement over the above solution would be to switch the Lions to the Western Conference and move Tennessee east. Some of the current divisional rivalries could then be maintained.
Suggestion Number Two
Detroit is added to the Midwest Division which becomes the current NFC North plus Indianapolis. The two Missouri teams drop down into the Southwest Division, and then Denver could be moved over to the Pacific.
Western Conference | ||
Pacific Division | Southwest Division | Midwest Division |
Arizona Denver Oakland San Diego San Francisco Seattle | Dallas Houston Kansas City New Orleans St. Louis | Chicago Detroit Green Bay Indianapolis Minnesota |
In the Eastern Conference, the Titans go into the Southeastern Division. Baltimore moves over to the North Central Division which becomes the AFC North plus Buffalo.
Eastern Conference | ||
North Central Division | Northeast Division | Southeast Division |
Baltimore Buffalo Cincinnati Cleveland Pittsburgh | New England NY Giants NY Jets Philadelphia Washington | Atlanta Carolina Jacksonville Miami Tennessee Tampa Bay |
As I have implied in my NFL proposal, the benefit of fewer divisions is better teams in the playoffs. In the suggestions above, the playoffs would most likely be improved because in each conference, the mediocre winner of a weak fourth division would be replaced by a probably stronger third wild card team.
Finally, what happens if a team (let's say the Jaguars) relocated (let's say to Los Angeles)?
Jags Relocation
The Jags move into the Pacific Division bumping the Cardinals and Broncos over to the Southwest and Chiefs and Rams the up to the Midwest.
Western Conference | ||
Pacific Division | Southwest Division | Midwest Division |
LA Jaguars Oakland San Diego San Francisco Seattle | Arizona Denver Dallas Houston New Orleans | Chicago Green Bay Indianapolis Kansas City Minnesota St. Louis |
In the Eastern Conference, the Lions slide into the North Central Division with the Ravens moving to the Northeast.
Eastern Conference | ||
North Central Division | Northeast Division | Southeast Division |
Buffalo Cincinnati Cleveland Detroit Pittsburgh | Baltimore New England NY Giants NY Jets Philadelphia Washington | Atlanta Carolina Miami Tennessee Tampa Bay |
Friday, January 8, 2010
Sympathy
I am probably the last person on the planet to post about The Sopranos, the pop-cultural phenomenon whose six-season run ended in 2007. I've never had HBO, so I couldn't watch the show when it was first on the air. However, it was hard not to at least be aware of the show, and I got the general idea from water cooler talk and morning radio deejays. I figured I would eventually get around to watching the show, but even with reruns in constant rotation on A&E, which I do get, I never got around it.
Enter Netflix which my girlfriend and I have had for awhile now. Since we first got Netflix, we've cranked through a ton of movies, including all ten of the previous Star Trek movies prior to the release of the latest incarnation (which we saw in IMAX). While we still had plenty of movies in the queue (and still do), we decided to start getting DVDs of TV shows. Since the end of August, I've been getting the DVDs of The Sopranos, and I've just now finished the fourth season. Meanwhile, my girlfriend has cranked through five and a half seasons of Desperate Housewives including the first part if the current season which have been recorded on our DVR. When I finish up with The Sopranos, perhaps we'll move on to the DVDs of Lost.
I like to kid my girlfriend about the TV shows she watches being pointless dramas (Dollhouse, Ghost Whisperer), silly sitcoms (The Office, Parks And Recreation) or some combination of the two (Ugly Betty, Glee). I think Desperate Housewives is on the same level as the the daytime soap operas. Of course, take one of those soap operas, throw in some screwed-up mobsters, plenty of crime and violence, and a seedy strip club, and then I'm hooked. What does that say about me? Does that mean I'm pure evil? I do like that rock 'n roll music, so I guess I'm a lost cause.
One of the key elements of the The Sopranos is the music. Most notable is "Woke Up This Morning". The bluesy theme plays during the show's opening sequence which follows mob boss Tony Soprano as he makes his way home from New York City to New Jersey. The song could be considered Tony's personal theme song, although not in the same way as that James Bond's theme plays throughout the 007 movies.
Of course, theme music is not limited to movies and television. Music and sports have been linked since before marching bands began playing at halftime of college football games. Baseball has arguably the biggest links between sports and music with the most memorable being former Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Carry singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field. There is also the entrance music for closing pitchers. Major League closer Trevor Hoffman is known for trotting out from the bullpen to AC/DC's "Hells Bells". Then there is Mariano Rivera who enters to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" which he had never previously heard before the song was selected for him. In baseball, musical entrances aren't limited to the pitchers. Nowadays, every hitter has music that plays as they make their way to the batter's box. Being a fan of the Atlanta Braves, I get exited at the first notes of Ozzie Osbourne's "Crazy Train" which accompanies slugger Chipper Jones to bat. That song was also used by Larry Johnson and probably several others.
Entrance songs are also popular with professional wrestlers, boxers and MMA fighters. The pièce de résistance of musical entrances would have to be from the movie Rocky IV which has the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, singing "Living in America" as Apollo Creed in an Uncle Sam top hat makes his way to the boxing ring to face the Russian Ivan Drako.
I would venture to guess that if you asked the average guy, he has at least one song already picked out for his personal entrance music, just in case he gets the call from the big leagues (or maybe Vince McMahon). For me, I favor a particular ditty by the Stones. Yet another nail in my coffin, I guess. Do I keep a CD containing that song in my car? Yes, I do. Do I play the song loudly on the drive over to my friendly neighborhood bi-weekly get-together? Ummm... well... yeah. Does it help? No, not really.
As we come to the end of this post, we fade to black, and the credits get ready to roll. Cue the music.
"Please allow me to introduce myself..."
Enter Netflix which my girlfriend and I have had for awhile now. Since we first got Netflix, we've cranked through a ton of movies, including all ten of the previous Star Trek movies prior to the release of the latest incarnation (which we saw in IMAX). While we still had plenty of movies in the queue (and still do), we decided to start getting DVDs of TV shows. Since the end of August, I've been getting the DVDs of The Sopranos, and I've just now finished the fourth season. Meanwhile, my girlfriend has cranked through five and a half seasons of Desperate Housewives including the first part if the current season which have been recorded on our DVR. When I finish up with The Sopranos, perhaps we'll move on to the DVDs of Lost.
I like to kid my girlfriend about the TV shows she watches being pointless dramas (Dollhouse, Ghost Whisperer), silly sitcoms (The Office, Parks And Recreation) or some combination of the two (Ugly Betty, Glee). I think Desperate Housewives is on the same level as the the daytime soap operas. Of course, take one of those soap operas, throw in some screwed-up mobsters, plenty of crime and violence, and a seedy strip club, and then I'm hooked. What does that say about me? Does that mean I'm pure evil? I do like that rock 'n roll music, so I guess I'm a lost cause.
One of the key elements of the The Sopranos is the music. Most notable is "Woke Up This Morning". The bluesy theme plays during the show's opening sequence which follows mob boss Tony Soprano as he makes his way home from New York City to New Jersey. The song could be considered Tony's personal theme song, although not in the same way as that James Bond's theme plays throughout the 007 movies.
Of course, theme music is not limited to movies and television. Music and sports have been linked since before marching bands began playing at halftime of college football games. Baseball has arguably the biggest links between sports and music with the most memorable being former Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Carry singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field. There is also the entrance music for closing pitchers. Major League closer Trevor Hoffman is known for trotting out from the bullpen to AC/DC's "Hells Bells". Then there is Mariano Rivera who enters to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" which he had never previously heard before the song was selected for him. In baseball, musical entrances aren't limited to the pitchers. Nowadays, every hitter has music that plays as they make their way to the batter's box. Being a fan of the Atlanta Braves, I get exited at the first notes of Ozzie Osbourne's "Crazy Train" which accompanies slugger Chipper Jones to bat. That song was also used by Larry Johnson and probably several others.
Entrance songs are also popular with professional wrestlers, boxers and MMA fighters. The pièce de résistance of musical entrances would have to be from the movie Rocky IV which has the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, singing "Living in America" as Apollo Creed in an Uncle Sam top hat makes his way to the boxing ring to face the Russian Ivan Drako.
I would venture to guess that if you asked the average guy, he has at least one song already picked out for his personal entrance music, just in case he gets the call from the big leagues (or maybe Vince McMahon). For me, I favor a particular ditty by the Stones. Yet another nail in my coffin, I guess. Do I keep a CD containing that song in my car? Yes, I do. Do I play the song loudly on the drive over to my friendly neighborhood bi-weekly get-together? Ummm... well... yeah. Does it help? No, not really.
As we come to the end of this post, we fade to black, and the credits get ready to roll. Cue the music.
"Please allow me to introduce myself..."
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A Modest Proposal
Disclaimer: In my first post, I stated that the purpose of this website was to provide a place for me to ramble about a variety of random subjects. My posts may not be for general consumption. The post below as well as subsequent posts on this subject might only be interesting to me and perhaps a handful of sports geeks.
As promised, here is first part of my proposal for improving the NFL. Before presenting a solution to a problem, one should state the problem that is to be solved. One of the problems with the NFL, in my opinion, is that it has too many small divisions. While the other major professional leagues have small divisions (NHL and NBA with six five-team divisions and MLB's AL West with only four teams), the NFL takes the cake with eight four-team divisions. Of course, the reason for this is to have as many teams as possible that can call themselves champions. If two wild card teams win the conference championship games, there would be 10 different division and conference champions. That would be over 30% of the 32 teams. That is almost one third of the teams in the league calling themselves champions of this or that.
Unfortunately, this arrangement frequently results in champions that barely have a winning record. This season, all eight division champions managed double-digit wins. However, that is not always the case. In 2004 and 2006, Seattle won the NFC West with 9-7 records, and in 2007, Tampa Bay won the NFC South also with a 9-7 record. Last season, Arizona won the NFC West at 9-7, and San Diego won the AFC West with a .500 record (8-8). Granted, the Cardinals did get hot in the playoffs and made it to Super Bowl XLIII.
Now that the problem has been defined, it is time to move on to the proposed solution which starts with...
The first part of my proposal is the elimination of the National and American Football Conferences. I know many people will cry foul over this step due to the historical significance of maintaining separate conferences. However, the NFL-AFL merger was over 40 years ago. I think enough time as passed for the league to move forward with integrating the two conferences. (Take a hint Major League Baseball).
To me, the simplest way to handle this consolation is to simply merge the matching directional divisions into four eight-team divisions as shown below.
Of course, this change would be a great opportunity to realign the divisions. Also, the possible relocation of a team (say to Los Angeles) would have an affect on the divisional alignment. I will cover those topics in my next post. I promise that those suggestions will be minor compared to the elimination of the conferences. Also in future posts, I will expand on how my primary suggestion would be implemented including how the regular season schedule, playoffs, and Pro Bowl would all work.
As promised, here is first part of my proposal for improving the NFL. Before presenting a solution to a problem, one should state the problem that is to be solved. One of the problems with the NFL, in my opinion, is that it has too many small divisions. While the other major professional leagues have small divisions (NHL and NBA with six five-team divisions and MLB's AL West with only four teams), the NFL takes the cake with eight four-team divisions. Of course, the reason for this is to have as many teams as possible that can call themselves champions. If two wild card teams win the conference championship games, there would be 10 different division and conference champions. That would be over 30% of the 32 teams. That is almost one third of the teams in the league calling themselves champions of this or that.
Unfortunately, this arrangement frequently results in champions that barely have a winning record. This season, all eight division champions managed double-digit wins. However, that is not always the case. In 2004 and 2006, Seattle won the NFC West with 9-7 records, and in 2007, Tampa Bay won the NFC South also with a 9-7 record. Last season, Arizona won the NFC West at 9-7, and San Diego won the AFC West with a .500 record (8-8). Granted, the Cardinals did get hot in the playoffs and made it to Super Bowl XLIII.
Now that the problem has been defined, it is time to move on to the proposed solution which starts with...
1. Eliminating the Conferences
The first part of my proposal is the elimination of the National and American Football Conferences. I know many people will cry foul over this step due to the historical significance of maintaining separate conferences. However, the NFL-AFL merger was over 40 years ago. I think enough time as passed for the league to move forward with integrating the two conferences. (Take a hint Major League Baseball).
To me, the simplest way to handle this consolation is to simply merge the matching directional divisions into four eight-team divisions as shown below.
| West Division | North Division | South Division | East Division |
| Arizona Denver Kansas City Oakland San Diego San Francisco Seattle St. Louis |
Baltimore Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Detroit Green Bay Minnesota
Pittsburgh
|
Atlanta Carolina Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville New Orleans Tampa Bay Tennessee |
Buffalo Dallas Miami New England NY Giants NY Jets Philadelphia Washington |
Of course, this change would be a great opportunity to realign the divisions. Also, the possible relocation of a team (say to Los Angeles) would have an affect on the divisional alignment. I will cover those topics in my next post. I promise that those suggestions will be minor compared to the elimination of the conferences. Also in future posts, I will expand on how my primary suggestion would be implemented including how the regular season schedule, playoffs, and Pro Bowl would all work.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Nectar of the Gods
For my birthday, my girlfriend bought me a Mr. Beer home brewery kit. A few weeks ago, I mixed up the first two-gallon batch. Mr. Beer's process skips the initial steps of beer brewing by using cans of malt extracts in various beer styles. My first try was their Cowboy Golden Lager.
The first step in the process is installing the tap in the fermenter keg. The next step is sanitizing the keg and other equipment using the sanitizing cleanser provided in the kit. Then malt extract is mixed with water and Mr. Beer's Booster to get wort. The wort goes in the keg with some yeast. After two weeks in the keg, it was time to bottle up the results (after sanitizing the one-liter bottles, of course). Then there was a week of bottle conditioning.
Sunday, it was time to give the brew a try. I had one of the bottles on the fridge, so it was nice and cold. I poured it into two pint glasses to share with my girlfriend. It tasted OK but was a bit flat and a little too sweet. Hopefully, the other bottles will improve with more time for conditioning.
My girlfriend's gift included several extra brew styles, so the question is which one should be next?
The first step in the process is installing the tap in the fermenter keg. The next step is sanitizing the keg and other equipment using the sanitizing cleanser provided in the kit. Then malt extract is mixed with water and Mr. Beer's Booster to get wort. The wort goes in the keg with some yeast. After two weeks in the keg, it was time to bottle up the results (after sanitizing the one-liter bottles, of course). Then there was a week of bottle conditioning.
Sunday, it was time to give the brew a try. I had one of the bottles on the fridge, so it was nice and cold. I poured it into two pint glasses to share with my girlfriend. It tasted OK but was a bit flat and a little too sweet. Hopefully, the other bottles will improve with more time for conditioning.
My girlfriend's gift included several extra brew styles, so the question is which one should be next?
Sunday, January 3, 2010
The Page Nobody Will Read
This is my first post. The purpose of this site is for me to post thoughts on random subjects, so it might not really be for general consumption. For all of those out there that aren't reading this, I'm going to call this site a journal instead of the more popular term, blog, because I'm like that. Of course, I am a bit late this party. My girlfriend has been blogging for years now. She currently maintains two blogs, her personal site plus a separate site dedicated to her hobby, cranking out delicious cupcakes.
The first step after deciding to start one of these things is to pick one of the various options available to bloggers. I read reviews of WordPress, TypePad, and LiveJournal. I even considered trying a bliki. I read comparisons between the different options, and being a novice, I discovered options that I didn't even know I needed. After my thorough investigation, I went with Blogger. Why did I chose Blogger? Well, I have a Google account. I was already logged into Google, so it was only a few clicks to get started. So there you go.
The next step is to pick a title and URL extension. Again, being late to the party, my options were limited. After trying several things, I settled on "justjimsplace" for the URL extension and "Jim's Place" for the title. Based on the fact that this site is basically for my sole use, I also considered various versions of "Page Nobody Reads". However, most variations around that theme were already taken, and some of those pages were quite depressing.
The source for my passed-over idea was a book I read awhile back, The Book Nobody Read by Dr. Owen Gingerich. The book to which the title refers is Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. De revolutionibus is one of the most important works in the history of science, right up there with Newton's Principia Mathematica which established the mathematics of calculus, and Darwin's Origin of Species which presented the theory of evolution. Copernicus's book is considered revolutionary (OK, pun intended) since it established the Sun and not the Earth as the center of the universe. However, the book wasn't considered to be widely studied or even read. Dr. Gingerich, a professor of science history and astronomy, set out to inspect as many of the existing first and second editions of De revolutionibus as he could track down. His investigations took several decades, and he found that despite the reputation of the book, a number of the remaining editions were extensively annotated.
Back to this site, other than random thoughts, I really don't know where I'm going with this. I don't plan on visiting 100 places before I die or preparing all the recipes in a cookbook (although trying 300 different beers sounds like a great idea). Don't expect posts on celebrities, celebrities' kids, celebrities' pets, or reality TV. I also won't be discussing friends, family or work since I don't think that would be particularly interesting. I'm sure I'll have more posts on books and science plus sports, movies, and who knows what else. With the NFL playoffs starting next weekend, the next topic will be my proposals for changing the NFL.
The first step after deciding to start one of these things is to pick one of the various options available to bloggers. I read reviews of WordPress, TypePad, and LiveJournal. I even considered trying a bliki. I read comparisons between the different options, and being a novice, I discovered options that I didn't even know I needed. After my thorough investigation, I went with Blogger. Why did I chose Blogger? Well, I have a Google account. I was already logged into Google, so it was only a few clicks to get started. So there you go.
The next step is to pick a title and URL extension. Again, being late to the party, my options were limited. After trying several things, I settled on "justjimsplace" for the URL extension and "Jim's Place" for the title. Based on the fact that this site is basically for my sole use, I also considered various versions of "Page Nobody Reads". However, most variations around that theme were already taken, and some of those pages were quite depressing.
The source for my passed-over idea was a book I read awhile back, The Book Nobody Read by Dr. Owen Gingerich. The book to which the title refers is Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. De revolutionibus is one of the most important works in the history of science, right up there with Newton's Principia Mathematica which established the mathematics of calculus, and Darwin's Origin of Species which presented the theory of evolution. Copernicus's book is considered revolutionary (OK, pun intended) since it established the Sun and not the Earth as the center of the universe. However, the book wasn't considered to be widely studied or even read. Dr. Gingerich, a professor of science history and astronomy, set out to inspect as many of the existing first and second editions of De revolutionibus as he could track down. His investigations took several decades, and he found that despite the reputation of the book, a number of the remaining editions were extensively annotated.
Back to this site, other than random thoughts, I really don't know where I'm going with this. I don't plan on visiting 100 places before I die or preparing all the recipes in a cookbook (although trying 300 different beers sounds like a great idea). Don't expect posts on celebrities, celebrities' kids, celebrities' pets, or reality TV. I also won't be discussing friends, family or work since I don't think that would be particularly interesting. I'm sure I'll have more posts on books and science plus sports, movies, and who knows what else. With the NFL playoffs starting next weekend, the next topic will be my proposals for changing the NFL.
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