Why I still get on the internet every couple days or so. There's always a chance you'll stumble on a page like this.

http://twitpic.com/photos/DentonPolice

Reggae

Reggae band name seen on advertisement while driving home from work...

JAVINCI

My friend once told me about another name someone he knew was employing:

Jahccoustic

Another I thought of:
Jahcappela

Stop reading if you don't give a shit about baseball

One of my colleagues once claimed that baseball players are the most stupid of all athletes. While I think my colleague would admit his argument rests on a shaky empirical foundation, I wouldn't be surprised if a veteran beat writer for any team in MLB completely agreed with him. That's what makes this stuff, coming out of the mouth of a so-so KC Royals pitcher with so-so stuff, so refreshing. (these quotes are taken from a Tim Marchman blog post entitiled Brian Bannister should be your favorite player.) Witness:

On various measures:

"I think it's important to look at all three of the metrics—plus/minus, John Dewan's plus/minus, UZR and there's another one." (how many baseball writers actually even know what he's talking about?)

On defensive stats:

"The thing is, it still gets tricky when you're talking about, you know, the zones. A lot of teams play more shifts than others, there's still a lot of things. I look at them because I still think it gives you the best read on defense, as long as you look at all of them, make sure there's no kind of outliers in the stats. So I really like looking at the numbers and seeing, especially, if there are trends. If a guy is all over the place year to year it's hard to get a feel for how he really is, but a lot of guys are very consistently at the top and I think it's, you know—Chone Figgins right now is, I believe, the top at his position and you can just see it with your eyes. So I like the numbers, I think guys are working really hard on the numbers, but I think that next generation system's really going to be the defining moment in defensive statistics."

My favorite quote:

"Baseball is a game of regression to the mean."

Anyway, Bannister was already one of my favorite players, but Marchman's semi-serious assertion got me to thinking about my other favorites. Not my all-time list, but a list of those I really like watching right now.

C-Joe Mauer: Piazza with defensive skills. Supposedly has a recording studio in his lake house where he lays down hip hop tracks. Make your own judgment.

1B-Kung Fu Panda (aka Pablo Sandoval): I love fat players. Especially fat players who can hit, and can actually run the bases. Kung Fu Panda is no Cecil Fielder in the weight department, but he fits the bill. Prince Fielder was my runner-up, for the same reason. He's actually a vegan.

2B-Chone Figgins: Plays 3B right now, but has played 2B before, and I don't really have a favorite second baseman. If I may be so bold, Figgins is about what I would imagine I would be if I played in the majors, and was a pretty good player: decent defenseman but not good enough to be a perfect fit at any position, hits a HR occasionally, hits for a low .300, steals some bases, and stretches singles in doubles. I wouldn't steal as many bases.

SS-Jose Reyes: The act can get old, but man....I miss him this year.

3B-David Wright: Again, a bit too poster boy sometimes, but how could a Met fan right now not put him on a list. And I think he's a genuinely good player, on and off the field.

LF-Matt Kemp: Actually Kemp's a center fielder but I've become a bit of a Dodger fan and he's probably my favorite Dodger.

CF-Carlos Beltran: Good at everything. Even the stuff you don't really see. I guess he's kind of like what Eric Davis would have become if he had stayed healthy.

RF-Vlad Guerrero: Every team should have someone who swings at everything that comes by, and actually hits a good percentage of them (Vlad), or someone who swings as hard as he can everytime, misses most of them, but when contact is made, loses the ball on the next street (Adam Dunn).

SP-Bannister, or Pedro

Closer-Bring back Smoltz!

9.58

Something I thought would never happen in my life time...unfortunately, I couldn't be in the stadium in Berlin. I envy my friends who where there to see this happen.

Blow

A verification of a famous urban myth.

wildlife

This is a picture of a statue I found early this evening, on the way to pizza in beautiful Highland Park. Remind anyone of Blood Freak? (previously reviewed on 4KS.)

This is a picture of my dinner Sunday night about 30 minutes before they became my dinner, hanging out in my sink.

THis is a scene from Zombie, playing at the Plaza Theatre in Atlanta on February 9 (check the date for sure) as part of Splatter fest.

Doings

A. Last Friday I was lucky enough to cap the evening with a viewing of the classic Australian film Stunt Rock at the New Beverly Cinema. There's not much of a plot to Stunt Rock, beyond a loose tale of a stunt man who knows this wannabe-Zeppelin band called Sorcery and is trying to get this girl to get into him while the band is trying to make it big. For most of the movie, you get the stunt man doing stunts, and the band playing shows, always with a wizard on hand to do all sorts of blowing up shit with magic sorts of things. Sound amazing? It is. Watch the trailer, either way.



B. Last night, I watched this movie, which is all about Australian "ozploitation" movies from the 60s and on. It's one of those movies, like the just as essential Z-Channel, that you'll spend half the time writing names of movies down that you may or may not ever find, but you need to see. One of the highlights was a movie called Long Weekend, where a couple out for some time in the sticks feels the wrath of nature as they are continally attacked by wild animals.

C. Recently, I've been trying to not watch too much of the Mets, though I'm not as pissed off as I was in like 1991, or 1993, or 2003, or 2004. The Mets DL would actually be a decent starting 9 and I suspect that, playing everyday, they could at least compete for a Wild Card. That being said, the Mets were making bone-head plays left and right even before 75% of their core went on the DL. Back then, though, the mental mistakes were largely covered up by the fact that they have 4 or 5 players who are probably among the 40 best players in baseball. Now they have 2 or 3.

D. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks in Echo Park (a hipster/Latino neighborhood where a Mexican radio station blead through SM's pedal during the instrumental part of the first song) as well as beautiful Solana Beach. It was my first time seeing the band with Janet Weiss who, I think, has made them so much more interesting live than they were before. Not that I wouldn't be excited about a Pavement reunion, but after seeing this incarnation of the Jicks, I could certainly wait awhile.

E. Superfreakonomics. October 20. I will probably buy a hardcover book on this date for the first time in forever.

miscellany:

ahoy, loyal readers. hope all is well, sorry for the posting drought. it has been brought about by a dizzying post-honeymoon rush of work [hearings essentially every single day the last few weeks], along with numerous social obligations. some of which i will discuss forthwith.


huge congrats to two 4KSers who have wed in recent weeks. my first ever trip to vegas for MC2's was a great time. sadly the night of the ceremony i was sidelined by a bought of digestive distress [fuck you, room service steak and eggs], but all the same it was a really fun trip. congrats to he and J. secondly, a big ups to 22, who wed his lady L in a lovely decatur ceremony one week ago today. two fine human beings wedding two fine ladies. yes, congratulations indeed.


also need to congratulate the big cat on surviving his bach party last weekend. the crew was basically HC and myself along with big cat's fun loving high school crew. i was only able to attend the first night, but it was one to remember. heavy doses of brews, brown liqour, green stuff, and fireworks. my last memory was a 4am power boating trip with big cat being towed on a raft behind a small cigarette boat that was going about 60 MPH.


last night the wifey and i caught funny people. excellent film. heavier than i expected, not a slapstick at all. but a really fine film, A-. then today Z and i caught terminator salvation at the dollar theatre. a pleasant enough way to pass a sat afternoon, but a little...unecessary. C+. oh, and the wifey and i recently polished of the staircase on dvd. compelling courtroom documentary, everybody should check it out if they haven't already. A.


poet: welcome to boulevard. you're living in maybe the coolest house in the neighborhood. look forward to the inevitable throwdowns.


sports? it's summer, who cares. i watch sportscenter soley for NBA/NFL player movements. MLB just doesn't do it for me. a shout out to matt stafford, though, who is really living the dream. enjoy yourself now, matt. the next few years will, sadly, probably be made up of sacks, picks, and getting shredded by the local media.


finally caved in and got the new iphone. best money spent since the german record player.