I'm not really a baseball fan, I only play one during the playoffs when the Sox are playing. Courtesy of my friend Adrian, as die-hard a fan as one can imagine of the Sox, I know the entire starting roster now and actually understand a squeeze and "small ball".
Governor Schwarzenegger's (Conan) quote is perfect for this World Series. When asked what were the best things in life, he responded:
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the woman!"
paraphrasing a Mongol general from 10 or 11 centuries previous.
I don't understand these old-time fans who see the Sox as "underdogs" and believe that they had to have more adversity before winning the Series. Their adversity was going down 3-1 to the Indians and having to win 3 straight to come back and even make the Series.
So I say, revel in the victory. It's better to crush your enemies than give them a chance to come back.
After all, if the Yankees and Indians had thought like that the Sox wouldn't have two World Series titles this century!
I must confess to being sorely disappointed.
I took less time to finish this version than I did the previous two, and the story was woefully inadequate. It's almost as if their writers simply didn't work on the project and we're left with a jump from episode to episode with little or no meaning.
My objections are:
- the story was extremely weak
- cutscenes nearly non-existent
- very odd and weak start
- weak ending
- no explanation whatsoever of the various new abilities/tools in the game
I suspect this will be a good multi-player game - given the revenue model - but it really doesn't stand up to previous efforts in the single-player mode.
And after waiting so long.. what were they thinking??
I just read somewhere that what was thought to be the Merlot grape in Chile has recently been identified as the Carmenere grape.
I bought some this evening at Whole Foods just because I like to experiment. It's Casillero del Diablo, vintage 2006. In spite of it being labelled a Carmenere it's only 10% Carmenere and 90% Cabernet Sauvignon. That said, it's just lovely and well worth the trying for $9.99.
I paired it with some Lincolnshire Poacher cheddar for a light dinner and it's just a really good match.
A great table wine.
I've practiced various martial arts, on and off, since I was 6.
Most of that time, I've gone to dojos where the fees were quite minimal - because they were non-profits. My current kendo kai charges me something like $65/quarter. It's a traditional school and by all indications a very successful one.
I've also been looking to join an aikido or hapkido (Korean form of aikido) dojo. Unfortunately, the ones I've found of late seem to be very profit-oriented. $100/month is a typical fee and some do the contract thing.
This seems very out of place with the way I've always learned and I was so refreshed to see that my kendo kai held traditional values. Not just because it's cheaper but because they see a mission in spreading the values and educating people about how kendo can change their life.
To such an organization, I'm much more inclined to volunteer my time and skills. I feel like there is substance there, not just an attempt to part gullible me from my money.
I may still join an Aikido dojo but I'll be looking very closely at their teaching practices and community involvement before forking over the bucks.
Saw Paul Robinson talking on Setanta tonight.
I must be getting older because I definitely feel some empathy toward him. He has had a tough time as England goalkeeper over the last couple of months and while I would prefer to see Scott Carson in goal, I've got to admit he stood up and admitted his faults and it definitely has affected him.
Classy fellow and I can only hope he returns to form - at least while playing for England!
It was a very good weekend for sport. I did nothing much over the weekend other than clean my place (and have breakfast with a new friend on Sunday) but amongst cleaning tasks - and playing with the boyz - I managed to catch a few games.
Liverpool v. Everton - a cracking match. Pretty clean, with some so-so refereeing. A win by Liverpool in the 206th derby match - at the death mind you. What a heart-stopper. Suitable revenge for last year's defeat and I hope a good warm up for playing Besikitas on Wednesday. That will be another must-win game. Same vein as the derby and as next weekend's match against Arsenal. So they're in it now.
Red Sox v. Cleveland Indians, Game 6 of the ALCS. Great game.. pretty nerve-wracking since it was a must-win game. But Schilling once again proved that he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame when his career is over.
Red Sox v. Indians, Game 7 of the ALCS. A very tight game. Well-played until about the 7th when the Sox started to run away with it. The Indians did seem to crumble at the end. That said, they're obviously a very good and still young team and will be a force for a few years.
I cannot write about the Rugby World Cup. Too disappointing.
I wonder if I should download some of these games to my Palm or my PSP so I can watch them while working out. Certainly be better than watching the financial news.
I've found the new series on Showtime, Californication is just great. A real showpiece for David Duchovny's talents - it's got some brilliant screenwriting as well.
Natasha McElhone, whom I haven't seen since Ronin, stars as the female lead.
Are we, I wonder, entering that world that Ayn Rand described in Atlas Shrugged? Stories like this make me wonder.
I'm fortunate that I take home a good cheque. I had a good education, got many good jobs, and keep my skill set evolving. But for those condemned to staying in one profession, or staying in an average-paying one, the picture seems to get bleaker and bleaker every day.
From the purely pragmatic and self-interested standpoint, this decline in the fortunes of the middle class cannot continue if we wish to have a stable society. Forget Iraq, what damage have the failed domestic policies of the current administration done to this country and its people.
I'm all for Randian self-improvement and self-actualization but I think we must support the idea of a middle class for both aspirational and practical reasons.
Tell a big enough lie, or just assert a privilege and you seem to be able to get away with murder these days.
Stunning that this sort of stuff hasn't remained front-page news.
But then I guess we have a major war that we've already lost to distract us from rampant malfeasance in the White House.
More incompetence from Steve McLaren of the England team.
We lost yesterday 1-2 to Russia in Russia in a game we were playing flawlessly in the first half. The Russians adapted their tactics in the second half, and we changed our tactics to be defensive.
And we lost in 4 minutes, giving up two goals at the beginning of the second half.
The FA today declared their support of McLaren.
Of course, this means that he is likely to be gone soon, in the shark tank that is English football. And I'll not cry any tears at all.
I wondered about this whole thing when it happened. The story was just strange.
Simply stunning, if true.
Apparently someone in the current Bush administration (one of two highly-placed officials) released that last Bin Laden video we all saw last month. What wasn't related at the time was that the video had been secured by a firm that specializes in Internet espionage (on our side) and that the release compromised their operation, wasting years of work.
We need the election this November, not next November.
I found this very interesting (and prescient) quote by Barrack Obama on Paul Krugman's blog:
I believe I've posted this before. This article is from a 1998 article in Time magazine, which quite suspiciously (IMO) has deleted it from their archived articles.
But it's quite telling. Reading it again, it too is prescient of the difficulties inherent in subduing and occupying Iraq. Tip of the hat to the Memory Hole for preserving it.
George Bush [Sr.] and Brent Scowcroft
Time (2 March 1998)
The end of effective Iraqi resistance came with a rapidity which surprised us all, and we were perhaps psychologically unprepared for the sudden transition from fighting to peacemaking. True to the guidelines we had established, when we had achieved our strategic objectives (ejecting Iraqi forces from Kuwait and eroding Saddam's threat to the region) we stopped the fighting. But the necessary limitations placed on our objectives, the fog of war, and the lack of "battleship Missouri" surrender unfortunately left unresolved problems, and new ones arose.
We were disappointed that Saddam's defeat did not break his hold on power, as many of our Arab allies had predicted and we had come to expect. President Bush repeatedly declared that the fate of Saddam Hussein was up to the Iraqi people. Occasionally, he indicated that removal of Saddam would be welcome, but for very practical reasons there was never a promise to aid an uprising. While we hoped that popular revolt or coup would topple Saddam, neither the U.S. nor the countries of the region wished to see the breakup of the Iraqi state. We were concerned about the long-term balance of power at the head of the Gulf. Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under those circumstances, furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the U.N.'s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome.
We discussed at length forcing Saddam himself to accept the terms of Iraqi defeat at Safwan--just north of the Kuwait-Iraq border--and thus the responsibility and political consequences for the humiliation of such a devastating defeat. In the end, we asked ourselves what we would do if he refused. We concluded that we would be left with two options: continue the conflict until he backed down, or retreat from our demands. The latter would have sent a disastrous signal. The former would have split our Arab colleagues from the coalition and, de facto, forced us to change our objectives. Given those unpalatable choices, we allowed Saddam to avoid personal surrender and permitted him to send one of his generals. Perhaps we could have devised a system of selected punishment, such as air strikes on different military units, which would have proved a viable third option, but we had fulfilled our well-defined mission; Safwan was waiting.
As the conflict wound down, we felt a sense of urgency on the part of the coalition Arabs to get it over with and return to normal. This meant quickly withdrawing U.S. forces to an absolute minimum. Earlier there had been some concern in Arab ranks that once they allowed U.S. forces into the Middle East, we would be there to stay. Saddam's propaganda machine fanned these worries. Our prompt withdrawal helped cement our position with our Arab allies, who now trusted us far more than they ever had. We had come to their assistance in their time of need, asked nothing for ourselves, and left again when the job was done. Despite some criticism of our conduct of the war, the Israelis too had their faith in us solidified. We had shown our ability--and willingness--to intervene in the Middle East in a decisive way when our interests were challenged. We had also crippled the military capability of one of their most bitter enemies in the region. Our new credibility (coupled with Yasser Arafat's need to redeem his image after backing the wrong side in the war) had a quick and substantial payoff in the form of a Middle East peace conference in Madrid.
The Gulf War had far greater significance to the emerging post-cold war world than simply reversing Iraqi aggression and restoring Kuwait. Its magnitude and significance impelled us from the outset to extend our strategic vision beyond the crisis to the kind of precedent we should lay down for the future. From an American foreign-policymaking perspective, we sought to respond in a manner which would win broad domestic support and which could be applied universally to other crises. In international terms, we tried to establish a model for the use of force. First and foremost was the principle that aggression cannot pay. If we dealt properly with Iraq, that should go a long way toward dissuading future would-be aggressors. We also believed that the U.S. should not go it alone, that a multilateral approach was better. This was, in part, a practical matter. Mounting an effective military counter to Iraq's invasion required the backing and bases of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.
Now go home.
Overnight, my 50mm Leica lens (a Summicron-DR on loan from my Dad) was stolen from the trunk of my rental car in Patterson Park.
Last thing I needed. Probably $1000 to replace if not more. In absolutely perfect shape.
I filed a police report, and with a friend's help, notified the local pawn shops. I seriously doubt I'll ever see it again but I've improved my chances as much as possible.
Am watching ePrey just in case.
It was a message not to ever return I think.
But my uncle's blog has working comments (and a nice captcha validation mechanism) and I don't. I turned off comments a year or two ago because of idiot spam attacks and I never got around to turning it back on. Now, while he is pretty technically competent for an one of his advanced age [insert smiley], it's just an epic tragedy that his site works and mine doesn't. It's even got that little Leica shutter "click" when you enter the site.
I hate bowing to his magnificence.
So I've resolved that my Christmas (yes, I'm giving myself a ton of time so there will be no excuses) I'll make some serious mods to this site. I'm going to put in a new Flash-based photography gallery, turn on comments, and upgrade to the latest version of MovableType. This should allow me to also write more entries from my soon-to-be-purchased MacBook Pro, rather than having to login to the MT engine to write stuff.
Sadly, I'll likely move away from my current service provider as well. Nice chaps but the technology limitations, too frequent down-time, and general system weirdness give me the motivation to go with a major player. They're local people, and quite nice but I need a site that is always up.
Frankly, I think my biggest challenge will be migrating my current content. Let's hope that it doesn't take me a week. There was a bunch of custom coding I did to integrate this blog with the site design.
Going back for a friend's wedding this weekend. Can truthfully say that if it weren't for the great friends I made during my stay there that if I never saw the city again it would be too soon.
Yes, one can learn to like any city, but being a foodie I was disappointed. It's really a small town, in spite of its size. Lord knows what ever possessed me to move there. I suppose the job looked really good - I knew there would be problems but I really didn't imagine that I would receive the lack of support I got in the end. Plus the resistance to change. I'm betting it wasn't an East Coast-West Coast sort of thing but rather the atmosphere (and the people) that the partners preferred to hire. I think their greed got them interested in what I had to offer and their intestinal fortitude failed them when they saw the sweeping changes that were necessary.
Is there such a thing as a disciplined advertising agency I wonder?
No matter. Plans for the trip include a dinner to the Capital Grille, the wedding of some great friends, and catching the Ravens (with barbecue and good red wine).
Should be an exhausting but fun trip. I'm bringing my Hexar and a couple of lenses and a bunch of film. With any luck I'll get some good wedding candids.
I simply don't know who took the field against Olympique Marseille yesterday but it looked like a bunch of impostors in Liverpool red.
Other than the first two or three minutes of the game, and during injury time at the end, it could have been Liverpool's reserves out there playing OM. This was a game we should have won and one that we deserved to lose. I've rarely said that of a Liverpool side (if ever) but I really have to wonder what's going on within the team.
Gerrard seems a shadow of himself since coming back from his toe injury and our midfield, formerly one of the best in England, seems incapable of keeping possession or passing the ball. I cannot count the number of times Momo lost possession with an errant pass yesterday and Gerrard was hardly ever mentioned. Yossi was the same. I don't think it can be fatigue with Rafa's team selection policies so we really have to look elsewhere.
Is it a chemistry issue? I wonder if Torres-Crouch really works and definitely Leto on the left side was a bust. I would much rather see our favorite Norwegian on the left wing and even Pennant on the right. Put Yossi and Stevie in the middle and that is a mid-field that will give most teams pause.
I'll be in Baltimore Sunday to watch Liverpool play at 10am at my favorite pub in this country.
Go Reds!
Most of the way through watching this game. Only decided to watch it after seeing the final score (4-4) which portended a cracking match.
However, unlike the recent Liverpool v. Reading match these are simply poor goals, occasioned by poor defending and even worse goalkeeping (in the case of Paul Robinson).
I've got to say after seeing this comedy of errors that Robinson really shouldn't be England keeper anymore. Yet another howler let in by him for the first goal. And he doesn't seem to be able to marshal his defenders either. All in all a poor performance.
I think Scott Carson (on loan to Aston Villa) or Chris Kirkland would both make much better choices for England going forward. If only Steve Mclaren has the courage.
Obviously, goals alone don't make for a good game.