Archive for October, 2009
19
Oct
Posted by NPI in Monday Medley. Tagged: balloon boy, Catherine Keener, concussions, Dave Eggers, halloween, head trauma, January Jones, Malcolm Gladwell, Max Records, oh betty indeed, slutty costumes, Spike Jonze, Stephen Colbert, the big lead, The New Yorker, the star-ledger, Where the Wild Things Are, white running backs. Leave a Comment
What we read while making sure OUR balloons were properly secured…. In case you missed it due to its very subtle and low-key promotion, Where the Wild Things Are came out this weekend and did quite well. Here’s an interview with writer Dave Eggers, director Spike Jonze, and actors Catherine Keener and Max Records. Yes, all [...]
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18
Oct
Posted by Tim in Joie de Vivre, On the Long Side, Sports. Tagged: 1999 nlcs, atlanta braves, bobby valentine, chipper jones, john rocker, mets vs. braves, new york mets, obsessive nostalgia, robin ventura. 16 Comments
This is Part I of a two-part retrospective on the 1999 National League Championship Series. Part II is available here. Folks, I’m generally a temperate individual. My passions are not easily aroused, and most of the time when I employ hyperbole, I do so sarcastically. This is not one of those times. It is my [...]
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17
Oct
Posted by John S in Music, Ranking Bob Dylan Songs, Rankings. Tagged: Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan apologism, Fitter Happier, kid a, Nashville Skyline, Nashville Skyline Rag, ok computer, Radiohead, Rankings, the basement tapes, the white album. 1 Comment
OK, this is kind of cheating. “Nashville Skyline Rag” isn’t really a song, it’s more like an album interlude. It’s completely instrumental, and mainly serves to pace the album, like Radiohead does with “Treefingers” or “Fitter Happier,” or The Beatles do with several songs on The White Album. The difference between those songs and [...]
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16
Oct
Posted by John S in Sports. Tagged: 2009 mlb postseason, 2009 mlb postseason preview, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, chip caray, Chip Caray says dumb things, clutch situations v. clutch players, denials of the 2004 ALCS, Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, Joe Girardi, John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels, Mark Teixeira, Mike Scioscia, new york yankees, Nick Swisher, porn star names, the ancient Vladimir Guerrero/Carlos Beltran debate, the quest of team of the decade, Torii Hunter. 1 Comment
Los Angeles Angels at New York Yankees OVERVIEW The Yankees and Angels were the two best teams in the AL during the regular season, and both are looking particularly impressive right now. They are each coming off sweeps in the ALDS (in which they each came back once against the other team’s dominant closer down [...]
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15
Oct
Posted by John S in Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Sports, TV. Tagged: Alton, Brianna, C.T., competing with a dead body, Evan shows some weakness as the kingpin, Landon, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, The Challenge's all-time greats, The Miz, The Ruins, week 3 the ruins, Wes Bergmann, Wes claims he's going to give his money to charity. 3 Comments
“I’m a strong girl, period. Even if I’m a rookie…I’ve come through in every challenge.” —Brianna Here’s why we need these Power Rankings: People on these challenges have no idea how to evaluate their own performances. Wes is convinced that he’s God’s gift to these challenges, I guess because he won The Duel three years [...]
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15
Oct
Posted by Tim in Sports. Tagged: 2009 mlb postseason preview, brad lidge, cardinals-astros, charlie manuel, cliff lee, cole hamels, degrassi, jayson stark and shallow observations, los angeles dodgers, national league championship series, nlcs preview, nlcs rematch, philadelphia phillies, phillies-dodgers, the best middle of the order of the decade? (in the NL), vicente padilla and vengeance!. 2 Comments
Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers OVERVIEW It’s the most anticipated NLCS rematch since Cardinals-Astros ‘05! Will this one finish what that one started, and officially put the nail in Brad Lidge’s coffin? The Phillies are coming off a very entertaining four-game NLDS victory over the Rockies (seriously; it was one of the best NLDSs [...]
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14
Oct
Posted by Tim in The Top 173 Things in World History. Tagged: articles of confederation, constitution, daniel shays, george washington, James Madison, samuel adams, shays' rebellion, the first sentence works with a lot of people when you think about it, thomas jefferson. 4 Comments
Daniel Shays is living proof that one man can make a difference, provided that man is a veteran of warfare, has easy access to weaponry, and lives in a decentralized state. Shays’ Rebellion in 1786-87 Massachusetts is by now little more than a sidebar in the formation of America. After all, the rebellion failed, and [...]
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13
Oct
Posted by Tim in Unabated to the Quarterback. Tagged: al davis, chad henne, chad pennington, cincinnati bengals, dan dierdorf, derek anderson, jamarcus russell, jets' conspiracy theorists, kyle orton, michael crabtree as clubhouse cancer, mike francesa and senselessness, mike singletary rant, miles austin, monmouth university, purdue quarterbacks, the historical significance of this year's denver broncos, tom cable, vertically striped socks, wildcat. 3 Comments
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” —Albert Einstein It’s difficult to pinpoint who in Oakland fits Einstein’s definition of insanity the best: Al Davis, for continuing to run the Raiders into the ground; Tom Cable, for continuing to run JaMarcus Russell out under center [...]
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13
Oct
Posted by John S in Sports. Tagged: 100 pennies, 2004 was a pretty long time ago now that I think about it, A Civil Action, Alex Rodriguez, ascribing meaning to things that don't necessarily mean anything, baseball prospectus, chip caray, Chip Caray says dumb things, clutch situations v. clutch players, cole hamels, David Ortiz, degrees of clutchness, Derek Jeter, James Click, misuse of statistics, performance under pressure, small sample size, the myth of clutch hitters, Vladimir Guerrero. 13 Comments
If I took 100 pennies and I threw them up in the air, about half of them would land heads and the other half tails, right? Now, if I looked around closely, I’d probably find some heads grouped together in a cluster. What does that mean? Does that mean anything?—A Civil Action Statistics are great. [...]
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12
Oct
Posted by John S in Comedy, Film. Tagged: Extras, fiction, Finally a reason to be good, gratuitous monty python links, it's funny because it's true, Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K., Philip Seymour Hoffman, religion is a lie, religious satire, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, The Invention of Lying, The Office (UK). 1 Comment
“It’s funny because it’s true.” We’ve all heard this statement and variations of it before. The truth is funny. Well, Ricky Gervais has decided to turn this comic principle into the premise for his new movie. The Invention of Lying takes place in a universe in which nobody on Earth has ever told a lie. [...]
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