Halloween Hangman

Despite all the f-bombs sometimes carelessly cast about here, I like to offer some family friendly content from time to time. Have it and go easy on the Karen Carpenter jokes.

First Things Pans Kahlil Gibran’s Collected Works

At the third opening, these words:
“Work is love made visible.”
To which I reply, You must have been pretty lucky in your job,
If you ever actually had a job,
But then I recall myself to myself,
And I discern that my task at the moment is but to open the book,
Not to comment thereupon.

Read the whole thing, it's pretty funny.

Victory!

The Red Sox have won the Word Series, as I predicted back in January. Job well done boys, job well done.

Now on to next year. I like what I see in the Red Sox organization, lots of young talent and some seasoned vets. Apparently it's a hard combination to beat. Sox fans have much to be happy about, besides the World Series victory and the Yankees' season ending in ignominy, let's look shall we?

• Dustin Pedroia - Probable AL rookie of the year. This 5 foot nine inch Goliath can flat out play, both on the field and at the plate.
• Jacoby Ellsbury - Probable AL rookie of the year 2008. After watching this kid play it occurs to me that speed on the base paths is an under rated commodity, with Ellsbury we have some for the next several years.
• Josh Beckett - Probable AL Cy Young winner. This man is lights out. He was decent last year, but this year he took his game to a new level and he's still pretty young.
• Clay Buchholz - This Cinderfella rookie pitcher threw a no hitter in his second game in the bigs, even a blind man could see this kid has great potential.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka - He was good this year, I bet he will be much better next year.
• Hideki Okajima - Who had heard of this guy before last year? And yet he managed to be one of those all important pieces to the Red Sox season. I love it when the Sox pick up no name giant killers like this.
• Kevin Youkilis - No batter in the major leagues sees more pitches per at bat then Kevin Youkilis. These patient, selfless at bats are essential to Boston's success because they get us to the opposing team's bull pen sooner then they would like.
• Jonathan Papelbon - Yet another lights out pitcher. Papelbon probably has more personality than all the CPAs in the world combined, but who cares? He could have the personality of Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off for all I care, as long as throws that godawful heat in the eighth and ninth.
• Jon Lester - Red Sox scouts weren't sure who would be the better pitcher, Jonathan Papelbon or John Lester. Now that he's healthy I look for some great things from this young man.
• The Sox front office - At this point you start to think that maybe these guys know what they're doing, as in seeing a need and filling it with a quality player. They'll spend and they'll develop. In combination you get to see a line up that contributes from top to bottom.

True, some of our veteran pitchers are free agents this year, Schilling, Wakefield, Timlin, Tavares, even Gagne, but I trust the Red Sox management to make the right decisions on who to bring back. With that said, I hope they manage to bring back Mike Lowell. Outstanding defense and great offense are a tough package to replace. I hope A-Rod stays the hell away from the Red Sox and they stay the hell away from him. I know he's good, that's not in question, but he brings more baggage than Brittany Spears checking into yet another rehab. Plus he's far too expensive. No one is worth that sort of money, unless of course he opens up lucrative foreign markets for your team ala Daisuke Matsuzaka. Plus that bush league psych-out stuff Scott Boras pulled during game four should be met by a league wide boycott of A-Rod. It won't be, but that 'd be great to see.

Three Games to None

Three games, 25 runs scored, only 7 given up, three wins - zero losses. I knew the Sox had this series well in hand, but can there be a sweep in the works?

Schill again...

"So here we are, 3 games in Denver, needing to win 2. No matter which side of the fence you’re on I would bet you’ll see two teams playing tomorrow that are playing for their lives. We’ll play this game as if we were down 2-0. We have to because the Rockies are backed into a corner and prior to game 1 of the world series they spent 22 straight games being backed into a corner and won 21 of them."   ( link )

World Series

It appears that nothing kills momentum like 8 days off and a world class pitching staff. In 18 innings the hapless Colorado Rockies have managed to score two runs. That would be great if their staff pitched 18 shut out innings, but they didn't. Fortunately for us, the Red Sox offense showed how the Sox won the AL East and the AL Championship, patient, disciplined at bats that force the opposing defense to throw strikes, which as often as not end up getting bounced off the Green Monster.

If the 2004 ALCS has shown us anything, it proved that anything can happen in baseball. With that said, the Sox need to win 40% of the remaining five games, the Rockies need to win 80% of the remaining five. Rots-O-Ruck and two words for you: Josh Beckett. Nothing in this world is an absolute sure thing, but Beckett comes about as close to lights out as a lead pipe across the temple. That's one of the requisite Red Sox victories right there. If the Sox win tomorrow behind Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dios mio man, the poor Rockies are screwed.

Terry Francona in The Onion

Terry Francona Announces Josh Beckett Will Start Games 1, 4, 7, 2, 6, 3, 5

Bill Clinton: How Dare You

Hell, even a broken clock is right twice a day (Unless it's one of those 24 hour clocks we had in the military and then it's only right once a day.) Well done Bill, well done.

Barry Bonds: Still a Jerk

What. A. Tool.

Sox N' Rockies

The Sox spanked them. The drubbing began in the first inning and didn't end until Eric Gagne, of all people, closed it out. Conan would be proud.
I know the Rockies are scrappy team and there are no "bad" teams in the post season, but I think they're way over matched. All that talk about the Rockies momentum and winning 20 of 21 games ended tonight in the friendly confines of Fenway. Exactly who did the Rockies beat to get here? The Cubbies and the Phillies. Please, even the injury hobbled Angles are much tougher than either of those two cream puff teams.
What can you say about Josh Beckett? Dominant, excellent, great, etc. The Rockies were off for 8 days which did nothing for their timing and it showed. Not that it would have mattered. I think they way Beckett pitched tonight, he could of shut any offense in either league down.
Then there's the offense. Diminutive slugger Dustin Pedroia smacks a homer off the Monster in the first Red Sox at bat, 12 runs later the Rockies swagger has been crushed. So much for momentum. On to game 2.

Clever Graffito

man of few words...

shooby doo, shooby doo

Anti Gravity Copter

James Lipton: Former Pimp

The oh-so obsequious host of Inside The Actors Studio, James Lipton, has admitted that as penniless young man in Paris he worked as a pimp. Moreover, because most of his clients were Franco-phobic Americans, he would stay in the room as they were serviced, you know to translate. This explains his extraordinary ability to suck up to even the most vainglorious Hollywood hack.

Oddly enough, my opinion of him has improved when I learned of this story. Keep in mind this is Paris France. Little boys there dream of being pimps or EU attach'es instead of cowboys and astronauts like little American kids, so in a way Lipton was living a dream.

Red Sox Win The American League Pennant!

I predict a World Series victory against the Colorado Rockies in five games. Yeah they're good, few bad teams make it to the post season, but a good pitcher in the NL is only okay in the AL. Likewise a great pitcher from they AL, i.e. Josh Beckett, will be monstrous against any NL team.

Game one this Wednesday will be Jeff Francis, ERA 4.22 against Josh Beckett, ERA 3.27, at Fenway, I like our chances. It will fun handing them their first loss of the 2007 post season.

Long, Lost Grandson or Seperated at Birth

Grady Sizemore and Lou Gehrig.

Movie Review: The Wicker Man

It's getting to the point where if Nicholas Cage is in a movie it's a pretty good indication that it's going to be a crap fest, to wit The Wicker Man. I won't bore you with all the tedious details and my convoluted prose, but take my word for it, this movie sucks. Implausible, ponderous, predictable and worse yet - you never care for Cage's character. In fact I hoped he'd buy it in the most painful way possible. Unfortunately it takes nearly 100 minutes for it to happen. Whoops, that was a spoiler. Sorry.
If you must see a Wicker Man type movie, rent the original with Edward Woodward, it's much, much better. While your at it, rent another fine Edward Woodward film, perhaps his best, Breaker Morant.

ALCS 2007

The Red Sox and The Indians had identical records this season, 96 wins and 66 losses. Then the Sox swept the hapless Angels in three, the Tribe needed four to dispatch the Evil Empire. Now they're tied at three games a piece in the ALCS and all that happened before could not matter less. The only thing that matters is game 7 this Sunday, and the subsequent American League victory in the World Series in 4 games. It's kind of funny in way that 7 months of effort and effect come down to one game, maybe even one at bat or one pitch. That's why I love baseball.

Jacoby Ellsbury

Somebody check that kid's ankles for wings. Holy shite can that kid run.

GRAND SLAM J.D. DREW!

Words I feared I would never type!

Joe Torre

As a dyed in the wool Red Sox fan it would be easy for me to hate Joe Torre, he of the pinstripes and 12 seasons of dominance in the A.L. East. But I can't, he's a good man.
When the Red Sox came back from three games to none to crush the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, Torre said, I paraphrase here, that he was disappointed the Yankees weren't going any further especially for the guys who hadn't been there before, but then again it was good to see a guy like Tim Wakefield go to the World Series. Classy.

The Big Lebowski (the short version)

Warning: contains some foul language.

Sabathia Gets Yanked

Is it me or does Indians pitcher C. C. Sabathia look more than a little like actor Forrest Whitaker?

This is from last night's game. Sabathia has just been relieved after giving up a run-scoring triple to Red Sox First Baseman Kevin Youkilis in the seventh inning. Youkilis would later score on a sacrifice fly by David Ortiz.

Obligatory Snacks For October: Cider and Homemade Doughnuts

Surprisingly for a fat man I don't really like doughnuts all that much. Which is not to say I won't eat them, I just prefer to tape them directly to my thighs and buttocks.

Home Made doughnuts are a different story, they're outstanding!

HOMEMADE DOUGHNUTS

1/2 c. butter

2 eggs

1/4 c. sour cream

1 tsp. salt

Oil for frying

1/2 c. sugar

1 pkg. dry yeast

7 c. flour, sifted

1 1/3 c. milk

Confectioners' sugar or combine mixture of 1 cup plain sugar and 3 teaspoons cinnamon. Cream butter and sugar. Blend in eggs. Dissolve yeast in water. Add to creamed mixture with sour cream. Sift together flour and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1-1 1/2 hours until double in bulk. Punch down.
Turn out on floured board. Cut in half and roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a 2 inch doughnut cutter and place on cookie sheet to rise for 10 minutes. Place in hot fat at 375 degrees. Brown both sides and lift out with slotted spoon. Divide batch and cover some in confectioners' sugar and some in cinnamon mixture.

Buy some real apple cider to go with them and you're in hog heaven.

I Recommend: The Night of the Hunter

Do yourself a favor this October rent or buy The Night of the Hunter with Robert Mitchum in a role that you will probably never forget. In an era of stupid gore fests and big budget flops, I guarantee you will find this movie creepy, in a good way.

Science and The Greeks

From Roger Sandall's site, this quote by Alan Cromer:

Academics cringe at the words truth and certainty. They believe that truth and certainty aren’t possible because philosophers have shown that neither empirical
nor deductive knowledge can be made error free.
But in the case of a finite number of discrete entities, such as the chemical elements or the human genes, certainty is an appropriate word.
And in any event, our knowledge of atoms and genes is as certain as our knowledge of tables and chairs, and a lot more certain than our knowledge of human behavior.

Read the whole piece.

Award of the Papal Equestrian Order to Mozart

From the Papal archives:

On the 10th April 1770, he arrived in Rome together with his father and, as guest of many noble and ecclesiastic salons, the “infant prodigy” showed his mastery. He also went to a liturgical celebration in the Sistine Chapel, where he could listen to the Miserere by Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652) for two nine-part choirs; already knowing that he could not get the music score because it was strictly prohibited, he transcribed the piece by heart at the end of the liturgy, almost without any mistakes. Mozart so highly impressed the scholars of the Curia that Pope Clement XIV decided to honour the artistic talent of the this boy from Saltsburg by granting him a private audience (together with father Giovanni Battista Martini, another famous musician who Mozart had already met in Bologna), thus conferring him the high honour of the golden army or the “Golden Spur”.

te, quem in suavissimo cymbali sonitu a prima adolescentia tua excellentem esse intelleximus

Understatement of the Day

"This is not the best parenting I've ever seen and she needs to be held accountable," Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said.

Most Pretentious Post Secret Ever

Post Secret has some pretty fascinating things, this is not one of them. A. It's not a secret, B. he never did it, C. Emerson? You make up a cock and bull story and you use Emerson? How state school of you!

Nobel Prize

Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to "spread awareness of man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for fighting it." By that logic Rosie O'Donnell should win for spreading awareness of obesity and shrill political discourse. It used to be that you were awarded the Nobel Prize for, you know, actually doing something. Flying around in your Gulf Stream VXI and being driven to rubber chicken dinners in your Escalade motorcade while maintaining 40,000+ square feet of heated, air conditioned, lit and plumbed living space to "raise awareness of global warming" is not accomplishing anything, other than straining the bounds of credibility and hypocrisy.
The worst part of this once prestigious award being granted to Al Gore and the U.N., other than the fact that two more feckless entities could scarcely be imagined, is that even if Gore and the poltroons in Turtle Bay were living in in yurts made of recycled tampons and going to and from work on pogo sticks it wouldn't change the fact that most of everything you hear about global warming is based on junk science. So much so that it's not science at all. My fellow citizens on left who cling to the tenets of global warming the way Richard Simmons' shorts cling to his sweaty thighs, are the first to point out the spurious science involved in intelligent design. Yet 99.9999% of what they believe they believe on faith because asno gordos like Gore have told them so.
Time and again, "researchers" have released reports designed to influence policy and actually do, that upon any serious inspection prove to false. But hey, why bother with facts when one can merely raise awareness?
Good story on global warming from The Cato Institute and another from Reason Magazine.

The Yankees Lose, The Yankees Lose!

Excellent! It's down to the Tribe and The Sox in ALCS, either of which will go through the NL champion like hot buttered Ex-Lax through a goose. I like the Red Sox's chances against Cleveland, but even if they lose to the Tribe, it wouldn't be all that bad seeing the Indians win it all this year, they seem like a decent bunch of guys.
I wonder where Joe Torre will be working next year? I wonder where A Rod will be?

The "Pants Issue"

It looks like Sandy Berger is advising the HRC campaign. At the risk of asking about the obvious, what is it with these people and their pants? Bubba's couldn't contain him, Berger's held more secrets than a stained blue dress, and Hillary's.... the less you think about them the better.

Che is Still Dead

Cuba remembers fondly their dead poster boy, Che Guevara, 40 years after his death. Some interesting facts about Che:

• He was part Irish
• Used to shoot deserters from his guerrilla army
• Liked to slice the throats of political prisoners while they lay sleeping
• Studied medicine at the University of Buenos Aires and graduated in 1953
• Quote: "Don't shoot! I'm Che Guevara. I'm worth more to you alive than dead."
• His image has sold more widgets than Big Bird's, now that's capitalism!
• Quote: "Blind hate against the enemy creates a forceful impulse that cracks the boundaries of natural human limitations, transforming the soldier in an effective, selective and cold killing machine. A people without hate cannot triumph against the adversary."
• Was a murderous, totalitarian villain.
• His death proves the CIA is not completely useless.

Mexican President Critical of U.S. Border Fence

At the risk of seeming churlish, who gives a fermenting fruit bat turd what Felipe Calderon has to say? Since he's the president of that corruption rife republic, why doesn't he concentrate on creating opportunities there so that his people aren't fleeing his country like rats escaping a sinking ship? Illegal aliens working here and sending money back to Mexico is the real reason he desires an open border. Other than cheap labor what do we get out of the bargain?
While I'm at it, any illegal alien caught by any form of law enforcement agency, municipal, county, state or federal should be deported immediately by bus. Any city, state or county offering amnesty should forfeit all federal aid. Wussy liberal states like Connecticut, who want to offer in-state tuition to illegal aliens at state universities and other benefits should forfeit a senator and two congressmen. We wonder why people come here illegally while simultaneously rewarding them for doing so. Which makes me wonder, how much can individuals, businesses and government agencies ignore the law before wide spread contempt of all laws becomes acceptable? If a majority of Americans really want illegal immigration to continue as it is, put it to a vote and change the laws. I bet you won't see that in our lifetime or any other. It's the democratic party, who feel they have a natural constituency with illegal aliens and the republican party's big business donors who love the cheap labor who want the flow to continue. Why organized labor supports an endless supply of replacement workers is a mystery to me.
Supposedly there are upwards of 32 million illegal immigrants in the US. I'd wager that most are productive and otherwise law abiding, yet by definition all are primarily and ultimately criminals. Do we ignore their transgressions and grant them amnesty just because it would be difficult tossing them out on their ear? Why not ignore tax cheats, library absconders, cable t.v. thieves and people who refuse to recycle? You would only need to deport several million or so before the rest of the illegal aliens got the clue that the party is over and then leave on there own.

ALDS

Red Sox lead the Angles 2 games to none in the best of five series.

Indians lead the Yankess 2 games to none in the best of five series.

All is right in the world.

Wallace Stevens

Born today in Reading Pennsylvania in 1879.
Exceprt from his poem Sunday Morning:

III
Jove in the clouds had his inhuman birth.
No mother suckled him, no sweet land gave
Large-mannered motions to his mythy mind.
He moved among us, as a muttering king,
Magnificent, would move among his hinds,
Until our blood, commingling, virginal,
With heaven, brought such requital to desire
The very hinds discerned it, in a star.
Shall our blood fail? Or shall it come to be
The blood of paradise? And shall the earth
Seem all of paradise that we shall know?
The sky will be much friendlier then than now,
A part of labor and a part of pain,
And next in glory to enduring love,
Not this dividing and indifferent blue.
IV
She says, "I am content when wakened birds,
Before they fly, test the reality
Of misty fields, by their sweet questionings;
But when the birds are gone, and their warm fields
Return no more, where, then, is paradise?"
There is not any haunt of prophecy,
Nor any old chimera of the grave,
Neither the golden underground, nor isle
Melodious, where spirits gat them home,
Nor visionary south, nor cloudy palm
Remote on heaven's hill, that has endured
As April's green endures; or will endure
Like her remembrance of awakened birds,
Or her desire for June and evening, tipped
By the consummation of the swallow's wings