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Yes I've been away from this little task for two weeks, what gives? The first week was forgivable; I was going out of town early on Sunday and the Packers were playing in Detroit, where they lose year after year, even when playing well. Last week? Lots of excuses. I had not seen the game or the highlights and didn't feel like I had anything to add.
So where are we this week?
That's hard to say. Which team is going to show up... the one that destroys decent teams and can play with the likes of the Colts or the one that lays down and fails against lesser talent? It's a sports cliché that good teams find a way to win when they aren't having a good day, but there's something to it and thus far this year the Pack doesn't even get into the ballpark. The similarities between Green Bay and Kansas City in this respect are pretty striking.
Which leaves lot's of questions.
How much of the change has to do with Favre being happy with the play calling changes since Sherman started doing it after Rossley's heart procedure? How much does an early lead help? The play calling seemed to go down hill in a hurry when they've played behind earlier in the year. Grey Ruegamer seems to have fit into the OL pretty well. Having Grady Jackson back certainly helps the defense, but Dallas wasn't a big run threat so last week wasn't useful as a long term guide.
Another obvious question is Brett's hand (wrist?) sprain. I've looked but can't really see any problems in the second half. He certainly came up grinning after making the crouching block on La'Roi Glover when Green ran back to the right on the broken play in the second quarter. The problem is that he can play pretty well hurt, he's just not the amazing player he can be.
Did you know that the Packers play for the presidency tomorrow? Apparently the Redskins success in their last home game preceding the election has been an accurate indicator of the current administrations election prospects for most of the teams history.
Sure it's silly (like the Boston curse, now lifted), but somehow I think there are going to be a lot of temporary Green Bay and Washington fans tomorrow (just in case).
I've never had occasion to use the call graphs (aka call hierarchy) in Eclipse before, but I had to make some small adjustments yesterday in some code I hadn't looked at in quite some time (although others have been making modifications).
Such a valuable tool!
I knew the bottleneck I was going to change, I just needed to track down all the places where it was being called and check the context to make sure I wasn't missing anything. The old fashion way would be to do a text search and manually eliminate the calls to other methods with a similar name. In this case, it was extremely straight forward, making the analysis portion of the task considerably easier.
The next time I need to do this the hard way for some other code I know I'm going to wish I could do it this easily again. I wonder if XCode 2.0 is going to have the ability to generate call graphs for Objective C code?
Jeez I can be stupid sometimes.
I woke up yesterday with severe pain in my neck, shoulder and elbow and as a result skipped a work event that I should have attended. It faded to a dull pain through the day and I felt pretty good during the evening. Last night it woke me a few times (when I rolled over or moved around in such a way that I got a reminder), but I wasn't too uncomfortable this morning. As a result, I decided to go bowling this evening.
Not a good idea. I retired a few frames into game one and now I'm really hurting.
One year ago today, there were fires burning in several San Diego locations and it was just getting rolling out in the San Bernardino mountains.
The fire up near Piru was burning a large forest, but was otherwise not of major concern to most people. And then the Santa Ana winds kicked in and the fire raced south and west very quickly during the day on Saturday. A far off fire at midday became an early afternoon orange glow and led to the Simi Fire of 2003.
A year later?
It's been mostly cool, often overcast with frequent rain for more than a week.
It's strange, but the only time we've seen the devil winds this year, it was overcast and cold. California has had a difficult fire year but it looks like we're going to get a pass for the worst part of the fire season this time around (hillsides that were dead in April are already showing signs of life).
If you're interested, here's the collection from last years burn.
The people running the national part of the Libertarian Party (or LP as some know them) have completely lost it. When I was young, it was still popular to talk about voting for Mad's ne'er do well, Alfred E. Neuman (it may still be a popular topic for all I know). I don't see how the nomination of Michael Badnarik can be seen as anything other than a joke of a similar nature.
The modern Democratic and Republican parties are both corrupt and answer to a quilt of monied interests and fringe elements. It may well turn out that we're in a place and time where all parties must be corrupt in order to compete (without money, you don't get to buy a real voice). That said, party transitions take time. It's happened before, but needs to build from the bottom up. It won't happen at the top unless there is a significant ground swell or an established player steps across the lines; given the money angle, it probably can't happen unless a grass roots movement makes it so. We've also seen major parties reinvent themselves without needing to go through the pain of a Whig to Republican type change; but I'm not holding my breath.
So why bother?
While I don't believe Jim Gray has any kind of real chance, I feel pretty good about spending my vote on him after finally making up my mind about it last weekend.
I don't have significant issues with Barbara Boxer (like I do with Dianne Feinstein, but that's another story for another time) but I just don't think Boxer or Bill Jones have any idea how to represent the interests of this immense and dynamic state. Neither seems to possess the ability to think outside the narrow constraints of party memoranda, nor do they seem capable of grasping nuanced (or not) technology shifts unless a well paid lobbyist shows up to lead them through it and dump some money into their campaigns.
I was quite surprised to learn of the Long Beach Press Telegram endorsement for Judge Jim Gray, which led to my finding a Reason interview from a couple years ago called Battlefield Conversions. I'd actually read this a while back, but had forgotten all about it.
Which leads back to the Libertarians. How desperate must they be to pick a presidential candidate so obviously lacking in qualifications?
I wonder how the hell did Badnarik end up supplanting the always available Harry Browne? Badnarik ran (and failed, twice) as a U.S. House Rep for Austin, Texas (a reasonable place to foment political change), but has no other political experience (does Executive Vice-President of his IU dorm count?) nor has he contributed any relevant policy positions, written any columns or published any books. How the hell does being a long time middle manager in the nuclear power industry translate into the ability to shepherd the largest government on earth through the problems we see ahead? This kind of candidate makes the Libertarians look foolish (or worse).
I guess this annoys the hell out of me because they've finally put a rational, intelligent and qualified candidate on the ballot for a national position and then they turn the rest of the ballot into a bunch of Neuman's. I can only imagine how Judge Gray feels.
Sure, polls are shaky, but even so this is an incredible statistic. More than 35% of the people who live in the United States believe that al Qaeda was sponsored by Iraq?
On the al-Qaeda link: 75% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq was providing substantial support to al-Qaeda, and 63% believe that clear evidence of this support has actually been found.
It gets worse (or maybe it's getting better?), a poll in September put the number at 42%. Good grief.
Also see the original report and story at PIPA, the Analysis section is worth thinking about.
The roots of the resistance to this information very likely lie in the traumatic experience of 9/11, and equally in the near pitch-perfect leadership that President Bush showed in its immediate wake. In response to an unprecedented attack on US soil, with the prospect of further such attacks, Bush responded with a grace and resolve that provided reassurance to an anxious public. In the war with the Taliban he showed restraint as well as effectiveness. Large numbers of Americans had a powerful bonding experience with the president &mdash a bond that they may be loath to relinquish.
Spending last Sunday on an airplane left me more behind that usual (today has been my Sunday with the exception of one meeting I had to attend remotely — it's hard to dodge people when you're walking around with eight years of operational trivia in your head and have a bad habit of volunteering information).
I'd seen Leonard refer to something which was eating random($foo) bandwidth like crazy but didn't have any time to find out what it was before leaving for the airport. Today's meanderings brought me back to it and now that I've seen the Crossfire session with Jon Stewart and read a whole lot of other opinions about it, I think he's right. Yes, Stewart has a nice little safe place to fall back to when he points out that he just hosts a comedy show but that doesn't let mainstream media off the hook. I've seen some clips from the Daily Show but have never really watched it (e.g. the Squabble in Coral Gables). I guess I'll have to ask the boys what they think of it. By the way, an interview taped before the CNN episode will be shown on 60 Minutes this Sunday...
I learned that Pierre Salinger died last weekend when the owner/driver of the service I've been using mentioned it on Sunday on the way to the airport. Salinger's son Stephen had apparently called (or already flown out). Someday, I'll be able to search frantically for news even from a car on 101 South even during a rain storm. Not there yet...
The New Republic came out this week with an endorsement of John Kerry for President (I didn't expect that one). They also carried the most relevant statement of the week (to me) in Conscientious Objector, by Robert A. George of the New York Post. While I don't agree entirely, it's a good read and reflects many of my feelings regarding both candidates.
Finally, I did something really stupid...
Actually, I had a good week of that; on Monday I told a VP that her way of managing priorities was 'pretty stupid' (artificially raising a project priority for 60 days to force the evaluation of a project which is going to take at least 120 days of R&D work is beyond pointless) and on Tuesday by jumping up in another meeting to emphatically tell the same VPs project gopher that we weren't doing something that would have been a complete waste of time (and money). I also ended up yelling at someone later Tuesday (on the phone) about absolute architecture limits that don't consider extensions by new products (I'm beginning to have a rather short fuse for engineers who don't have the ability to think for themselves — product based definition is just one small part of the ultimate system).
Anyway, having fallen into a combative mood, I encountered a fellow worker who'd IM'd something stupid to someone else, but when pushed professed to be a traditional conservative. So I lit into him trying to determine which part of 'compassionate' or 'conservative' he thinks this administration adheres to. I asked about a number of issues and he gradually retreated to his office (probably when he tried to defend the tax cuts as a fiscally sound move). I was an ass because I did it in public (I could have taken it back into a private discussion). He's just a simple guy (a Republican who believes) who thinks Fox is getting a bum deal.
Funny how things change though... the next day I got to be the rational guy when tempers were lost.
I finally got around to checking out the location of the small plane crash here in Atlanta and it appears to have been about two miles south of the office. Everyone we bumped into after noon time was buzzing about it, which makes sense now that I've had a chance to look into things.
It wasn't that big a deal... no one really heard anything.
In theory, anyone who works for a company of a certain size or greater in SoCal (or maybe all of California) has to deal with the yearly AQMD survey. This year it was called the AVR Online Survey and dangled off RideMatch.info. Whatever, it's stupid and every year it seems to get worse.
The survey has always wanted more information than I felt comfortable giving. This year we topped the charts. Yeah, I did it because I can't deal with hearing (again) from some shrieking HR dweeb who has nothing more important to do than tell me that I'm going to get fired because I've not completed the same idiotic survey (only worse) I've been filling in ever since EarthLink became big enough for the AQMD to notice (I'm guessing six years, could be more).
This years version was better and worse than last years.
It asked for a home address (I don't believe they've ever done before) and a bunch of other silliness. It asked for my regular (that's a nice joke) hours as they always do. It also asked for estimated miles one way which is pointless for me. I used the shorter route, even though I only used it for two of the four trips I mentioned.
The single biggest step back was using popups for all of the time based info. The second biggest problem was requiring time data for someone who was telecommuting. I can imagine someone creating a report based on when I didn't drive. Oy! How about this... I didn't drive into the office so my hours are irrelevant in any statistical report. You want something useful? Ask for additional freeway miles (or something similar) which I add from time to time when I go out to meet friends and family members for lunch while working at home.
End result? I spent 10 to 15 minutes playing with popups after my first submission failed (because user typed numerical data is somehow hard to deal with?), they have hourly data that makes little sense alongside everything else for the days I went nowhere and they failed learn anything about my route or trip time on the days I actually made the trek. The company is now happy. The state is now happy. Both have learned zero useful information.
The bigger lesson? If you don't know what you wish to learn, even one question is useless.
Here's an odd fact. Jerry Lee Lewis, often called the original Rock 'n Roller has some interesting relatives.
Jerry Lee began to play piano at age eight on a Stark Upright that his parents, Elmo and Mamie Lewis mortgaged the farm to buy. Along with cousins Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Lee Swaggart, Jerry Lee was constantly playing and practicing on the old Stark.
Swaggart's bio doesn't mention Jerry Lee (not exactly a surprise), while Mickey Gilley isn't as bashful in his, but never mentions Swaggart.
These three would make for one heck of a family reunion!
Tom DeLay is practicing Washington politics as usual, more or less exactly the way we civilians always assume it's practiced...
But for DeLay loyalists, the rewards can be generous. Republican legislators say DeLay has a nurturing side that endears him to his team. He has arranged for food to be available to his caucus during late-night House sessions, and several colleagues said he has been invaluable in their campaigns.
DeLay was the first member of Congress to contribute to the congressional campaign of Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida, in 1994, Foley recalled. Although DeLay once got "angry" when Foley voted against a trade bill DeLay wanted, the leader is generally understanding, Foley said. "He's the classic country-club manager. He's always making sure members' needs are cared for."
Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Republican of Florida, said DeLay is a "good friend" to many in the caucus. "If you have a difficulty -- political or personal -- he is someone who will not only listen, but will be there for you," Diaz-Balart said.
But DeLay's critics say his biggest weapon is money. Cross the majority leader, they say, and you get no financial help from him. But for those who play along, DeLay can raise lots of money in campaign donations.
That's not representation, certainly not in the House, where voices large and small are supposed to reign in a commons type clamor of ideas. The House as I learned it was created to give equal voice to all the ideas (good and bad) of the nation. The Senate was where the best and brightest were supposed to be sent (with long terms so they could work towards the best interests of the nation rather than dealing with ideological and regional issues) and it was intended that turn over in the house would be very regular.
Do we get representation from the individuals we send to the House of Representatives (on either side of the aisle? Certainly not by those who allow their heads to be turned by DeLay's type of leadership, but that seems to be the rule rather than the exception. It seems that most (all?) representatives play follow the leader in order to be given money so they'll be able to defend themselves at home and come back next term. When everyone does what the strong arming (or domineering) leader(s) recommend in near unison with no negative feedback, you no longer have a working system (representative or otherwise).
It's all about funding and backing by local, state and if possible national pols. Toss in opportunistic funding from other sources (lobbies are more than happy to help out those in need as long as they get the opportunity to change the voice of their new puppet) and you have the ultimate defeat of the peoples interests. It's very difficult for anyone who is not wealthy to survive as an independent voice; something we in the United States seem to rejoice in for some reason.
No solutions here, I'm just whining.
For the last 15 years or so I've called myself a centrist (for lack of a better place to be). Mostly a Libertarian, although the whole free market thing makes me nervous because I distrust large corporations and government. I'm probably more comfortable taxing and spending than your prototypical libertarian (as long as we don't spend more than we collect). I can also live with cooperative ventures between commerce and government to solve common problems (the typical northeastern Republican approach).
A couple weeks ago I was introduced to Big Business and the Rise of American Statism, an essay by Roy A. Childs (published by Reason in 1971) which has challenged a lot of my basic assumptions and left me more confused than ever. I wish I'd read this a long time ago, I wonder how my view of the world would be changed.
There is definitely something to the basic thesis, that big business sought regulation to fend off young competitors. And over a period of time, institutions like public utility companies became commonplace to 'regulate' those companies with 'guaranteed profits'. Further, the discussion implies that any argument regarding free markets needs to go back to somewhere before the 1880's. Otherwise, it's influenced by a state colored version of commerce.
The immediate lesson? If you can't beat 'em, legislate against them. Business has been using legal (and otherwise) means to defeat better (but less monied) foes for well over a hundred years now. But... it's bigger than that, there are larger and more complex implications to think about.
Worth reading if you're into that sort of thing.
The Packers play Tenneesee at Lambeau Field on Monday night (week 5), otherwise it's doubtful we'd see them here in LaLa land. Despite the game being between teams with losing records, it ought be quite a battle. Tenneesee has also staggered out of the gate and while they don't seem to have the same kind of defensive problems they've been getting little out of long drives. Both teams will have a sense of desperation about them.
Back to the Pack, there was already some serious turmoil with losing twice at home, the record (1-3), losing Grady Jackson and the resulting chaos on defense, losing Flanagan and having his replacement Grey Ruegamer have a really shaky game. Was he at fault for getting bull rushed six yards into the backfield on the play where Favre sustained a concussion? Perhaps, but Brett had nearly 4 seconds before William Joseph got his left hand on him. Hard to say. Perhaps Brett has forgotten what it's like to scramble for your life on a regular basis. They threw a flag for a facemask infraction (on Joseph I think — nope, I went back and checked, it was on Favre's buddy Strahan who was tussling with Marco Rivera in the middle of the field after Tauscher had bounced him over), but it was offset by a flag on Favre for grounding.
Doug Pederson is done for the season (and perhaps his career) and was moved to injured reserve after the hit by Keith Washington during the first drive where Brett was tied to the bench. Craig Nall moves up to second on the depth chart. I just noticed that last week was his first official NFL pass. In a move to remove distractions where possible, Sherman finally made a deal to move malcontent Mike McKenzie to New Orleans on Monday, getting quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan (another young guy with a good season in NFL Europe on his record) in the deal. In another move, Larry Smith was signed to provide help on the defensive line (he was a late cut coming out of camp because of an injury) and is reported to be in shape and ready to play.
And finally, Favre's brother in law died on Wednesday night in an ATV crash. He's expected back from Mississippi before game time. This sort of thing worked out well last year, but every game and situation is different.
Yes, the legend does continue but it's not going to be easy going. Arnie Stapleton (of the The Associated Press) had an interesting take on things early in the week: Packers are a team in turmoil even without McKenzie.
I like the chances for Green Bay if they can pull together the way they did last year in Oakland (also a MNF game if I recall correctly). Otherwise... well let's not go there.
I know I'm geting old, but I was watching iNFL and was shocked to see Josh McCown without a helmet. He looked like a kid out there (think Anthony Michael Hall in the early eighties). You see a guy with a large body in pads and helmets, looking just like everyone else and then he pops off his hat and you wonder what high school he escaped from.
After Dr. Z took a shot at Ray Lewis and his readers piled on, I noted that #54 of the Chiefs (one Brian Waters, a guard it seems) did a job on Lewis, one-on-one in three of the four clips shown by the folks from HBO. I didn't see the game myself, take it for what it is.
I get Bill Simmons attitude toward his beloved Red Sox, being a long time Packer fan. And yet, the worst we saw was a twenty nine year drought. Sox fans are still hoping to keep it under 90 years.
I'm not sure I could have dealt with being a fan living in the Green Bay or Milwaukee area for years and years. A massive area downer combined with the change of weather towards the worst would have been really bad. As it is, I attended a couple parties in the Milwaukee area many years ago where football came up and there were a lot of "Damned Packers!" type statements while I tried to explain how I (a kid from Jersey) had become and remained a Packer fan. It made me uncomfortable and I was glad to escape. What made me free to be a Packer fan? Certainly, a pretty strong streak of independence and the Packers dominance as I began following the game, but I may also have been influenced by my aunts (both of 'em) weird devotion to the Red Sox. I still don't get it, but they loved Yaz (Carl Yastrzemski). I'm pretty certain it drove my grandfather batty because he was a National League fan (but he also was the one who took me to my one and only game at Yankee Stadium).
I think one of the most powerful (and interesting?) social experiences is to live amongst the faithful while a goal is achieved or completely undone. Two points on the line from my youth: landing on the moon and the unraveling of the Nixon administration (living in a Republican area). Sports are not as completely encompassing, but if you live in an area that's small enough, a winning team will tend to attract large numbers of followers. Boston seems like that, as nearly everyone who lives north and east of New York City is a Red Sox fan at times.
And there lies the story. People who are willing to believe, where every misstep is painful and personal. I wonder, does Wall Street pay attention to this kind of thing and do some sort of euphoria discounting?
Update: This has been sitting here for a couple days waiting for me to wrap it up but I figured that I'd post it now after the weird events in the top of the seventh. The curse lives!
John Eisenhower, son of Dwight D. (Ike) Eisenhower is a life long republican. For reasons best expressed in his own words (here's the the original), he's decided on a change of heart this time and endorsed Kerry. I see Wikipedia has also picked it up. (thanks Robert!)
Today many people are rightly concerned about our precious individual freedoms, our privacy, the basis of our democracy. Of course we must fight terrorism, but have we irresponsibly gone overboard in doing so? I wonder. In 1960, President Eisenhower told the Republican convention, “If ever we put any other value above (our) liberty, and above principle, we shall lose both.” I would appreciate hearing such warnings from the Republican Party of today.
I also recalled Eisenhower being very wary of the military industrial complex, a machine of enormous influence which he'd experienced from a very close perspective. He warned us in his last address. Here's a part of what he had to say...
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
I can see how someone raised on Ike's values and beliefs and accustomed to the behavior of the mid twentieth century Republican party might eventually grow disillusioned.
Dave Johnson pointed out this ridiculous development today:
GROKLAW: "Here's a truly disgusting story. Kodak bought some patents from Wang in 1997. The patents cover a method by which a program can "ask for help" from another application to carry out certain functions, which is more or less what Java does. Kodak's business is suffering from the digital revolution, so it decided to sue Sun for infringing its purchased patents. It claims that Sun pilfered its technology."
The patents (5,206,951, 5,421,012 and 5,226,161) appear to address a system for operating on resources (organized data of some kind) within an object hierarchy with a serialized format. The whole thing looks a lot like AppleEvents (and in fact references Inside Mac and an article about MacApp), CORBA, java serialization, .NET and a host of things I am forgetting (or never knew about).
The whole software patent issue is going to get worse before it gets better.
Just finished the comments, looks like others who read the documents came to the same conclusions I did.
So whatever happened to Ed Donatell (he of the 4th & 26 debacle)? It seems that while I was trying to get over the abrupt end to the season and quick shake up, new Falcons new coach Jim Mora Jr. was hiring him to be Atlanta's defensive coordinator. Yeah, I'd completely missed that.
Peter King was positively raving (OK, I'll admit it, he does that) about the Atlanta defensive front last Monday and even mentioned Donatell by name. Through three games (which proves very little) Atlanta has a terrific defense where last year it was hopeless...
Meanwhile, up on the tundra (all because of the icebowl?), things are shaky. Fighting amongst teammates isn't always a bad sign (at least they have a pulse). Injuries are a killer (including those caused by holdout), but a defense needs a strength. Thus far, they don't have one (unless you consider letting teams run and pass at will 'a strength'). The New York game is going to be interesting, if only to see if the defense can step up and stop what seems to be a pretty anemic offense. If so, we'll count the Bears game as Lovie induced psychosis (not likely to happen the second time around with Grossman out of the picture) and fob off the Colts game for what it was, an awful first half and better than expected second half (I sent Tom a message mid game that I'd expected to need at least 35 to beat the Colts, not 35 per half).
It's sad to see Mike Flanagan depart for season ending knee surgery. He's thirty now and that's not a great age for NFL linemen. Here's hoping he comes back from it, but not at the expense of being able to walk twenty years from now.
This is a guy who really had to work his way into the hearts of fans, in part because of the broken leg during preseason of his rookie year. He'd looked pretty lost and then down he went. Came back the next year (preparing to defend the championship) and went down again with complications and more attention from the doctors.
The knock was that he wasn't big, or fast or sturdy enough.
He finally earned his way onto the field the next season (starting out as the backup to the backup behind long time center Frank Winters; playing anywhere they'd let him including special teams). He eventually became the starting center in 2001 and did a fine job.
Whatever the team might have thought, Flanagan became a personal favorite in '02, when he played damned near everywhere; something I consider quite unusual for offensive linemen (certainly the good ones). Tackle (yes left tackle Zimmerman!), guard and center. If someone went down for a game or two, he was shuffled over and filled in very competently (and perhaps better). When he was left off the Pro Bowl team I was let down; for the first time ever I'd voted on the offensive line and done so for someone who truly deserved to be there. He was certainly the most valuable offensive lineman in Green Bay.
Last year was vindication. He made the Pro Bowl by doing less.
And now he'll be pacing (sitting?) the sidelines. What effect will that have on the rest of the line? Hard to say, although some recent articles about other centers suggest they spend a lot of their time barking out adjustments for the other linemen. Certainly, Favre will need to make adjustments in the shotgun, perhaps in other parts of the game too. We'll just have to see.
Amazingly (to me) both the Angels and Dodgers are now winners of of their respective AL and NL Western Divisions.
The Angels were expected to be terrific this year, but stumbled around doing everything almost right and winning despite having some of their established stars spend a lot of time wearing plain clothes. For the first time in forever, an Angel free agent actually worked out and Vladimir Guerrero has been a huge part of this team.
The Dodgers weren't expected to do much of anything. As a bonus, there was plenty of angst surrounding the teams purchase by the apparently poorly financed Frank McCourt. And then Jamie McCourt opened up on the press and made things worse (and I piled on).
Jon Weisman was a bit more optimistic and wrote On Paper: 2004 vs. 1988 a few weeks earlier, in retrospect, he was right (I think). I can't tell how they did it. Smoke and mirrors like the 2002 Angels. 7 runs in the bottom of the 9th? I don't know what else to call it. Adrián Béltre has been a huge part of it. The midseason trade generated lots of discussion amongst friends and pundits. Opinion was divided, it seems like a wash and the end result can't be judged until the season is over.
The next couple of weeks (at least) will be interesting.
I've been catching up on events of the week (watching the debate, reading commentary of various types and so on). Before the debate on Thursday, the leader of the free world had this to say:
"Because activist judges and local officials in some parts of the country are seeking to redefine marriage for the rest of the country, we must remain vigilant in defending traditional marriage," the president said.
So I guess we've added a new war (or two) to worry about...
By the way, I found out yesterday that BitTorrent is a useful mechanism to widely distribute important media. There is at least one debate torrent floating around out there and there are probably more.
This being the time of year when baseball gets interesting, I've been paying attention as time allows.
This evening while checking the standings I noticed something that seemed odd. With the A's and Angels tied agani, both have a magic number of 4. I added up the totals and yes, there really are only 3 games left. 4? Then I remembered that it's any combination of wins by one team and losses by the other.
Right now you can toss the magic numbers into the dumpster (along with those tickets for a tie breaker game I heard advertised earlier in the week). Anaheim plays a three games series in Oakland. The winner of the series keeps playing, the loser goes home to sulk with a 90 win season.
