Happy Christmas/New Year from Huggy Bear &T-Bone

christmas interrupted by the white sox

I heard Sisqo was releasing a single for the holidays, called "Perfect Christmas," forgetting just a minute the inherent lunacy of a short black man calling himself "The Dragon." Dude needs some serious help with his Asian culture fetish.

I got even MORE excited when I read the headline "Gload traded for Sisco" because my temporarily malfunctioning brain thought that the celebrity stock exchange game had come to life, and suddenly acquired the ability to trade in professional sports, and started wondering, hmm, is this a fair trade? Who wins in that? A useful spare part that can hit linedrives off the bench, or the "thong th-thong thong thong?"

I woke up to realize that Sisco was Andrew Sisco, a 23-yr-old lefty who's as tall as Randy Johnson, throws about the same, and if he's a third as good, this trade's awesome. Has a similar profile to Matt Thornton, a tall lefty with 95-98 velocity but control issues (which always makes me think his coworkers would say "he's too bossy" or "he never shares"). He'll probably start the year in Charlotte to see if he can continue developing as a starter, but if not, it's still a nice piece to have for Gload, whom Ozzie never used correctly anyway.

A more interesting trade is BMac going to the Rangers for precious, precious, minor league arms, the most notable being John Danks and Nick Massett. I like Baseball Prospectus' breakdown of the trade, which says the Sox get in Danks an equally talented piece as McCarthy. It just seems weird to make what looks to be a parallel move in a market where starting pitching is so valuable. I think the most viable explanation is that the Sox are looking to move one or more of the young pitching arms (TM) for a shinier piece (please Carl Crawford, NO Rocco Baldelli). So, a lot of the outcry seems unnecessary until the bigger move is made.

At least we know BMac had his Christmas dream come true, getting that starting rotation spot that he always wanted. Unfortunately, his craptacular home run rate (30 HR in 150+ IP) is going to be even more inflated in the Rangers' home park. It's not like last December, when the defending champs traded for Javy (I can't believe he's still on the roster) and re-signed Paulie, but, they're not the defending champs anymore, either.

Merry Christmas

Ikon of the Nativity of the Lord

"[The artist being aware of his own vulnerability within his art] has in it all the mystery of the relation of the maker with things made. There falls on it from afar even some dark ray of the irony of God, who was mocked when He entered His own world, and killed when He came among His creatures."

-- G.K. Chesterton, Chaucer, 1932

"Elder father, though thine eyes
Shine with hoary mysteries,
Canst thou tell what in the heart
Of a cowslip blossom lies?"

"Smaller than all lives that be,
Secret as the deepest sea,
Stands a little house of seeds,
Like an elfin granary."

"Speller of the stones and weeds,
Skilled in Nature's crafts and creed,
Tell me what is in the heart
Of the smallest of the seeds?"

"God Almighty, and with Him
Cherubim and Serpahim,
Filling all eternity --
Adonai Elohim."

-- G.K. Chesterton, "Holy of Holies," 1927

things i learned over the weekend

In teacher school, being a "lifelong learner" was always emphasized as something necessary to maintain a positive attitude toward the industry and students (although at the same time, it was an unwritten rule that this sort of canned answer was not very welcome in interviews).

So, in the interest of continuing education at the school of life, here is what was on the curriculum over the weekend:

Caroline collects her toenails when they fall off. To answer your questions, yes, it's happened more than once, and yes, it happened right in front of me. And yes, she will drive to come and pick it up if you just "happen" to find it on the floor, you know, just in passing.

Trying to think of gifts for under-2 yr olds is not easy. I mean, sooner or later, I will run out of books from my childhood to get for my goddaughter. Mike Mulligan and your Steam Shovel, you're up next.

Stranger Than Fiction is well worth two hours out of my life, and I will probably sacrifice two more hours at some point to it again. Just on a gut reaction level, I haven't watched a film in a long time where I felt I could relate to so many of the characters. Harold, because, well everyone is lonely at some point. Karen, because I have similar writing-induced neuroses. Professor Hilbert, because I would love to be that kind of oddly scholarly sage. And of course, the whole thing is about writing a book and how it's so strangely yet uniquely tied to sacrificing a part of your life (which is the way writers see it, usually).

jillapalooza

Things that Jill should demand for Christmas, sipping the champagne while her suitors haggle over her like a Japanese starting pitcher:

1. White Sox tickets - an Ozzie plan sounds about right. Also, the cancellation of the 2006 season from collective memory.
   
2. A copy of U2 by U2. Also, a restraining order on U2 best of collections, compilations, or use on popular American dramas.
   
3. Definitely some tshirts cuz it's getting colder outside.
   
4. Some new music, especially Clipse, or The Hold Steady, or Bloc Party's new one in February.
5. Oh, and something to play all that new music on.
6. Definitely not a copy of GuitarHero for PS2.
   
7. The restoration of Bob Dylan's good name.
   
8. Something to read. My sleeper favorite is Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog.
   
9. A soccer jersey. Wait, that's what I want.
10. Being home for Christmas.
    

hot stove: dooby dooby doo

Philly granolas rejoice as their number is increased. First inning Freddy and his hemp necklace shipped for uber-prospect Gavin Floyd and former Thome swag Gio Gonzalez. No word on whether Freddy will find a line on a reliable guy.

Floyd and Gonzalez is decent swag for Garcia, who's in the last season of his contract. (Basically we're getting Floyd + Gonzalez for the Phillies getting one year of Garcia + trying to re-sign him.) I guess I'm disappointed and briefly furious because the going rate for starting pitching seems so high (Ted Lilly to the Cubs for 4/$40 mill, which apparently made some people faint), so it seems like the Sox could've gotten more. The positives slightly outweigh the negatives, even if it's not a big splash. I'm not super thrilled. I guess this also means the market for Vazquez is bigger than for Freddy which is odd, since Garcia, overall and of late, has been the better pitcher.

Bad things:

• I'm hearing a rumor that Crash might be a throw-in on this trade. No, no, a thousand times NO. Let my Brian Anderson free.
  
• Seriously. Ted Lilly, never pitched 200 IP, never won more than 15 games, never had an ERA under 4.00 (not that these are the most important stats, but these are the ones idiot GMs go by), is getting $10 mill per, and Garcia's been steady with the innings, wins, ERA, and strikeout rate, has the shiny Proven Veteran (TM) tag, the even shinier Proven Playoff Starter (c) tag, and we just get two prospies? I was hoping to land a Carl Crawford with the Garcia bait.
  
• Didn't we get rid of Gio Gonzalez on the premise that prospects are expendable? And here we go getting him back. Our farm system must stink to high heaven.
• Floyd's ERA, walk rate, and WHIP look terrible.
  

Good things:

• Finally, an open spot for Brandon McCarthy in the rotation.
• This means also about $9 mill in savings in salary, which hypothetically can be used for a NEW. LEFT. FIELDER. Hint, hint.
• Floyd is only 23, lefthanded, and has a wicked curve. Coop did well in turning Matt Thornton around, so hopefully he can work the same magic with Floyd.
• Garcia was in the last year of his contract, and trying to re-sign him in the current ludicrous market would've killed the payroll, and dude was clearly on a decline.

I'm sad because I wanted a king's ransom in this pitching-crazed free for all, and all we got was... stock options. And we need upgrades in left field, backup C, and maybe center field. The best signings so far have been by the Dodgers (Schmidt, not Gonzo) and the A's (Piazza, the new hotness for fantasy baseball because he DHs with catcher eligibility).

bloggery

Stereogum put two things I like together: San Francisco Cure-wannabes Film School and comic Demetri Martin.

Fimoculous put out a list of the 30 best blogs you're not reading, including three standby timewasters (I mean, favorites): t-shirt critic, Pop Candy, and indexed.

This is going to be hellish week for grading. Yay, grading. I feel a certain solemn dignity in being the one to introduce to my future productive citizens of the world the concept of in-text citations. Hopefully, in said future, none of them will shake their fists in impotent rage at my dim memory.

Hot Stove: suckiness

Scott Podsednik signed for 1 year, $2.9 mill. Seeing how spare parts are signing for 5/$50 mill, and other overrated former Sox leftfielders are getting 6/$100 mill, this is quite the bargain. The problem is, now the Sox are set in the one position they can very obviously upgrade. I am hoping that K-Dub can hype the sellability of Pods' light contract plus a pitcher for some useful Christmas loot. Because I really don't want to sit through another summer of getting tagged out at second and helplessly flailing away at lefthanded pitchers.

Ozzie showed last summer that he's an awful lineup juggler. 2005 worked because he didn't have to make any choices; his everyday guys were clearly the best options defensively and offensively at their positions. Yes, Carl Everett sucked, but there wasn't anybody around that was any better. I wonder if K-Dub has to do something similar; construct a roster that leaves no doubt in Ozzie's mind who the best guy is. I don't need to see Mackowiak/Anderson Part Deux, cuz Ozzie doesn't know anything about defensive value.

The ridiculous free agent market is driving teams to look for starting pitching elsewhere, and the Sox have pitching to trade. I'll be disappointed if we don't upgrade before Christmas, cuz last year's was pretty great. Should be an interesting set of winter meetings this week.

mom and dad and mexico

Mom and Dad in Mexico. In pictures.

1.



2.



3.

movie time over the holiday time

One of my coworkers was telling me about the habit she and her husband have gotten into on Saturday mornings, which is to go and see a matinee show at the Barrington AMC. Ever since that conversation, I've gone from seeing one movie over the summer to seeing four in the last month.

The Departed is a great mobster movie, and the main thing from it, aside from Jack Nicholson's ridiculous performance, is whether Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio are becoming Scorsese's new DeNiro and Pacino. This is further underscored, probably unintentionally, in Damon's next film, The Good Shepherd, which includes DeNiro. Which is funny, because I had a hard time remembering Damon in any of his characters, aside from being the non-descript, nice white guy, the only time he broke the mold being Will Hunting.

Borat can be summed up in one sentence: "My mustache still smells like your testes." I was surprised that it actually had some semblance of a coherent storyline, and creatively skewered Baptists, frat boys, and southerners.

The next day I parked myself to see Casino Royale, which I was really hoping would be good, because the Bond franchise has been treading water, mostly due to crappy scripts. I didn't mind Pierce Brosnan, but Daniel Craig has a physical violence to him that makes up for any lack of social polish. There was some spy stuff, there was a twisty plot, and the Bond trademarks at the right moments with the right touch. Highly entertaining. The poker scenes are totally ludicrous, however.

Just got back from watching Deja Vu. Denzel makes it a lot more believable than it should be, with all the time shifting hocus pocus, and I don't buy the love story, but heck it's Denzel, and if it's ok with him, then it's ok with the audience.

On the docket for the weekend: football, grading, shopping, Stranger than Fiction, The Prestige.

new bloc party

New track ("Prayer") off of Bloc Party's new album, coming out in February.

Hot Stove: Adios Neal Cotts

I remember once there were rumors of Cotts being groomed for a starter's role, but that's gone by the wayside on the Sox, considering that they're already trying to find room for McCarthy. He should do ok filling in the Glendon Rusch role on the north side.

Speaking of which, despite the ridiculous number of year on the contract, the Chubs might actually be serious about contending (or at least putting butts in seats) with the signing Alfonso Soriano. Yes, they gave a 30 yr old too many years (8 year for $136 mill). Yes, they will probably stick him in a brand new position (center field, on a team filled with rookie pitchers that need all the help they can get). Yes, he is a little sensitive to getting his own way, like never taking pitches, and preferring to waste his 40+ home runs batting leadoff, but still. Sounds like another Dominican slugger we know.

The NL Central division leader won 83 games, a scant 4 games above break-even. A healthy season from Derrek Lee, along with the addition of Soriano, could make up a lot of ground in a very mediocre division (and a very weak league) could have the Cubs in the hunt late into September. Whether they get a playoff spot or not probably depends more on the pitching than the hitting, but a staff headed by Carlos Zambrano and Rich Hill is a good start.

The positional lineup looks set for the Chubs:

1. Soriano, CF, R
2. Murton, LF, R
3. Lee, 1b, R
4. Ramirez, 3b, R
5. Jones, RF, L
6. Barrett, C, R
7. DeRosa, 2b, R
8. Izturis, SS, S


Piniella will probably go with the nonsensical Baseball Lifer (TM) logic of having the small fast guy hit near the top of the lineup, so Barrett will probably bat lower, and Izturis, OBP sinkhole though he may be, will hit second. Piniella also has the non-logic of Izturis being "a lefty hitter to break up the block of righthanded hitters" to back him up. Anyway, it's still decent, although only Lee and Barrett take pitches with any regularity. Now all the Cubs need is some pitching (closer, then starter) and they're set.

"Everybody wants to win, so that's the most important for me." -- Alfonso Soriano, former Texas Ranger.

Form. blazing. sword.

Voltron coming to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Or, online. Yesssss. One of the only things I liked about growing up in the 80s.

Speaking of the 80s, Slate asks: are you an REM person or a U2 person?

Happy birthday to my dad, the nicest man in the world. Who is now 10 pounds heavier thanks to Brazillian barbecue.

yawn

Anyone looking to get published should look into Lulu.com. You can upload what you want to publish in simple MS Word format and a cover in .jpg, .gif, or .png, and they'll make it into a book for you. How cool is that? Other people can even buy your stuff. I am actually mulling over publishing my Master's project on Asian American Lit; it's the only thing I've written that is important enough to "publish." With 65 pages, it's thick enough to flesh out a book. Hmm.

In other news, my soccer team is on a 10 game unbeaten streak. I did not know that following a team that I cannot regularly watch live, on another continent, could be so fun. (Wait, this is exactly like fantasy football). The pageantry of European soccer is unequaled by anything in the States, except for maybe the NCAA basketball tournament or rivalry week in college football. The plethora of teams and levels in so many different countries lends itself to all sorts of interesting tournament formats like the Champions League, the UEFA Cup, and the Carling Cup, and that on top of the normal domestic schedule. There are lots of legitimate complaints about the Bears racking up wins on a easy schedule, but that can't really happen in European soccer; if you're good, then you'll have to prove it against very good clubs regularly. The Bears have maybe 4 games out of their 16 that are "big games," whereas a top flight English Premier League team has Champions League games (which is a round robin tournament), Premiership regular season games, Carling Cup matches, and FA Cup. Crazy. It's like playing 4 different seasons at once.

Unseasonably warm November. I can't believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I somehow have a month to get research papers prepped and done. Eeep.

Democratic Congress? Who cares. More of a slap in the face of the current administration than an endorsement for Democrats, I think. They ARE, who we THOUGHT they WERE!

One of my coworkers, on being told about the K-Fed/Brit split, said "I hate people like him! I hate people who advance socially without doing anything! Like Paris Hilton! I hate her!" I helpfully pointed out that people did it all the time in 14th century. I mean, so there's precedent.

tidings

My weekend in a few thousand words.
Number 1:

Number 2:

Number 3:

countdown to 30: last thirty...

music purchases.

1. Mew "And the Glass Handed Kites"
2. Joshua Radin "We Were Here"
3. Junior Boys "So This is Goodbye"
4. Sufjan Stevens "Avalanche"
5. Beirut "Gulag Orkestar"
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Fever to Tell"
7. Sleater-Kinney "The Woods"
8. Wolf Parade "Apologies to the Queen Mary"
9. The Walkmen "Bows + Arrows"
10. Lupe Fiasco "Food and Liquor"
11. Kanye West "Late Registration"
12. Common "Be"
13. Gnarls Barkley "St. Elsewhere"
14. I'm From Barcelona "Let Me Introduce My Friends"
15. Rhymefest "Blue Collar"
16. The Hold Steady "Boys and Girls in America"
17. Beach House (self-titled)
18. Film School (self-titled)
19. Dirty Pretty Things "Waterloo to Anywhere"
20. Broken Social Scene (self-titled)
21. Jens Lekman "Oh You're So Silent Jens"
22. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan "Ballad of the Broken Seas"
23. The New Pornographers "Twin Cinema"
24. LCD Soundsystem (self-titled)
25. Camera Obscura "Let's Get Out of This Country"
26. Band of Horses "Everything All the Time"
27. Tapes 'n Tapes "The Loon"
28. Regina Spektor "Begin to Hope"
29. Pinback "Summer in Abaddon"
30. Yo La Tengo "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass"

countdown to 30: movies that I'll yell at you for if you haven't seen them

But first, time-wasting movie-guessing games.
Viking's Stationery Movies (out of 20)
M&Ms "Dark" Movies (out of 50)

1. Charade - I already yelled at a coworker who teaches a cinema class about this. What is wrong with me.
2. Fight Club
3. Memento
4. The Matrix - they should have just stopped after this one.
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Star Wars
7. The Empire Strikes Back
8. North by Northwest
9. Rear Window
10. Seven Samurai - or watch the bastardized Magnificent Seven
11. Fellowship of the Ring - I didn't like the other ones nearly as much.
12. The Usual Suspects - it's questionable whether the plotline is feasible. Who cares?
13. Braveheart
14. The Godfather
15. The Godfather Part II
16. Aliens
17. The Sting
18. Hero
19. Fist of Legend
20. The Shawshank Redemption
21. Saving Private Ryan
22. The Pianist
23. From Russia with Love
24. Goldfinger
25. Roman Holiday
26. The Princess Bride
27. Bull Durham
28. Cool Hand Luke
29. Silence of the Lambs
30. Brazil

countdown to 30: favorite athletes

in biographical order:

1. Walter Payton, RB, Chi - Even though I could barely speak English, I knew who Sweetness was.
2. Don Mattingly, 1b, NYY - Yes, a Yankee, back when we lived in New Jersey for a few years. Even though the Mets won the Series in 86, I still liked the much less successful Yankees. Loved the 'stache and the huge RBI numbers, even though he never won anything.
3. Dave Winfield, OF, NYY - Unlike Darryl Strawberry, wasn't a cokehead. As far as we know.
4. Magic Johnson, PG, LAL - Showtime's ringleader, and the reason why every kid my age that played basketball learned to dribble behind the back and give no-look passes. I also never grasped the double entendre of his name until much, much later. I cried when the AIDS annoucement came out.
5. James Worthy, SF, LAL - Big Game James made wearing goggles cool, way cooler than Kareem ever did. Underestimated, I think. Living in LA during the late 80s was great.
6. Wayne Gretzky, C, LAK - So great was the Great One that kids on California hardtops traded in skateboards for hockey sticks. At least we did.
7. The 1984/1988 US Men's Olympic Volleyball Team - Who were the guys with the funny names? Kiraly? Ctvrtlik? The 88 Olympics were under close scrutiny in my household, since it was being hosted by the mother country, which gave me the chance to watch volleyball's version of the 85 Bears roll up on those heartless, Communist jerks, exactly like an 80s action movie.
8. Mark Price, PG, Cle - When you're out in the backyard or in the park playing ball with your friends, it's nice to have a good player who has the same first name as you. My buddy was Ronny was Ron Harper, so it worked.
9. Kevin Johnson, PG, Phx - Lightning quick point guard that got to the basket without any crossover moves, just blinding speed. Killed the Lakers all the time, and kinda looked like one of those Aliens from the movie, even more than Sam Cassell.
10. Will Clark, 1b, SFG - A continuation of the Don Mattingly mancrush. Also singlehandedly wrecked the Cubs in 89, so that's always fun.
11. Michael Cooper, SG-SF, LAL - A fan favorite for his ridiculous skinny legs, tall socks, and superhuman hops. Unfortunately, most famous for getting dunked on by Dr. J in the 83 Finals.
12. Wally Joyner, 1b, CA - The only California Angel that didn't suck when I lived out there. I'm serious about not noticing the first baseman trend until now. I related to him because he looked like he was 12 years old, like me. Screw the Dodgers. The Dodgers are the West Coast version of the Cubs, without so much of the losing, but with the same old people moxie (all Tommy Lasorda's fault).
13. Frank Thomas, 1b, CWS - A really tall, skinny rookie who hit monstrous opposite field home runs. It's cool to be at the beginning of a Hall of Famer's career.
14. Robin Ventura, 3b, CWS - Always looked calm and cool, like playing baseball didn't take any effort. Won a permanent place in my heart when he took several dozen noogies to the head from a Hall of Famer that can throw a hundred miles per hour.
15. Black Jesus, SG, Chi - It took some time to come around to like him, because he defeated Magic and Worthy in the 91 Finals, right when I moved from LA to Chi. It was a nice way to transition from one basketball dynasty to the next, but I was hating it a lot at the time. The only athlete that I am completely sure would die to win.
16. George Bell, LF, ChiC - Yes, a Cub. But he has two great things going for him: 1) being the greatest player in RBI Baseball for the NES (equivalent to Bo Jackson in TECMO Bowl), and 2) there being a 50/50 chance Harry Caray would screw up his name on the air. "In left field, George... Bush." "Now hitting, Greg Bell." I watched Cubs games cuz we didn't have cable and I was starving to watch any kind of baseball.
17. Jon Kruk, 1b, CWS - People forget he played about 12 games for the Sox. Thus began the genesis of the All-Fat team.
18. Darnell Autry, RB, Northwestern - The engine behind the most unlikely football story of all time. Northwestern on the cover of Sports Illustrated? Yah, it actually happened. And we beat Notre Dame, Michigan, and Penn St. that year, too.
19. Zak Kustok, QB, Northwestern - The 95 Rose Bowl team that had Autry, Fitzgerald, and Schnur were almost clinical in how they dismantled opponents, but the Kustok-Anderson teams were high-wire acts that scored a lot of points and gave up a lot of points. Youtube has got some great ones. All hail the Zak Attack.
20. Tim Raines, LF, CWS - Played with intelligence, style, and class.
21. Magglio Ordonez, RF, CWS - Best Sox OF of "my" era. Probably the best one in the last 20 years. And it was cool that he kinda looked Asian.
22. Mike Brown, SS, Bears - Gets as many season ending injuries as defensive touchdowns.
23. The Rock, WWF wrestling - The electrifying People's Champion brought the noise and intensity to fake sports like no other.
24. Marshall Faulk, RB, StL - For winning me my only office fantasy football championship.
25. Albert Pujols, 1b, StL - Hands down, Frank Thomas had the best start to a career I'd ever witnessed, until this guy came along. It also took me forever to understand how grossly funny his last name is. He, Bonds, and Big Papi are the only guys I stop channel surfing to watch their at bats.
26. Lance Berkman, 1b-RF, Hou - One of my favorite all-Big Boned Team members. When chunky guys do well, it makes you think, yes, YOU TOO can be a professional athlete. But, probably not.
27. Roy Oswalt, SP, Hou and
28. Brian Roberts, 2b, Bal - Guys I always target for fantasy baseball because I know exactly what I'll get for them, and they're not "hype" guys that everyone is jumping all over.
29. Steve Nash, PG, Phx - He plays the way Magic used to play. Everyone else in the NBA is boring, except for maybe D. Wade. Yes, Lebron is boring (too physically dominant, like Shaq was). Nash, Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, and Paul Pierce are the small handlful of NBAers with any kind of cunning deceit to their game, who can win without being 100%. Too bad Kobe and McGrady will never learn this. Kobe's cunning is what gets championships (Shaq) traded to another team, while McGrady's means he shoots 20 more times in the 4th quarter.
30. Joe Crede, 3b, Sox - The next Sox folk hero in the making.

Honorable mention: Kirk Hinrich, PG, Bulls. Mark Buehrle, SP, Sox. Jalen Rose, PG, U.Mich., Ross Gload, 1b-OF, Sox.

This is JEOPARDY!

Found out that a friend/former coworker was on JEOPARDY! today (She's Elesha from Durham). Didn't get to watch all of it, but saw she was in second place going into Final Jeopardy within striking distance of the defending champ. And it unfolded like so:

Trebek: "The answer: He was a spy and invented the mug shot used in the Wild West (my paraphrase)."

E: (snickers) "Who is Polaroid?"

The correct response: Who is Allan Pinkerton.

That pressure was sure getting to her.

life and times of my brain

"The flesh is indeed no more than a bruise / on the spirit." -- Paul Muldoon, from The End of Poetry

"Good. Then we'll have our battle in the shade." -- Dienekes, a Spartan, when told that the arrows of the Persian Army would block out the sun at the battle of Thermopylae. From Herodotus' Histories.

idling by

Trying to get my mind off of rather heavy things; thank goodness for research paper units and the internet!

I didn't know Stephen Colbert was Catholic. He's also awesome enough to demand a 7 page web article from New York Magazine. Get the extra big coffee before settling into this one. And have some for me, because a friend convinced me over the weekend to cut out caffeine and sugar (which I will *mostly* keep to). "It's good for your joints" says she, while lifting weights. In my living room. Just don't hit me with the free weights.

NYC's mayor's office has an interactive map of all the movies and TV shows that have been filmed there (mostly Manhattan), in celebration of 40 years of Film in NYC. So you can virtually hop over from where Audrey Hepburn walked for Breakfast at Tiffany's to where Bruce Willis and Samuel L. tore up Central Park in Die Hard with a Vengeance.

requiescat in pace

Matt Covey, 1982 - 2006

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Pirates and Knights and nights oh my

It's been a strange week of retro themes. Went on Friday to check out the Variety Show at my school (I notice that I'm slowly relying on my work for all of my friends, off-time entertainment, etc. This freaks me out a lot, but more on that in some other post), which had a pirate theme to it. What did I happen to be re-watching this past week? Pirates of the Caribbean. Yarr.

Woke up in time on Saturday to catch Jordan's birthday at infamous suburban kitschfest Medieval Times. What was I watching the week past? First Knight. Oh yeah. And we got yelled at by the Harry Potter-lookalike security manager who thought our party was getting a little too rowdy, although our Green Knight hero thought we were "awesome. I even told the security guys to leave you all alone."

It was way too much fun, and now I'm itching to get every good knights-in-armor movie, although, really, there aren't too many great ones. Braveheart is the best of that breed, in terms of combining an interesting story with medieval battle action and with elements of knighthood. The old school Arthurian movies don't really hold up in terms of the action (Knights of the Round Table) while the newer ones are lush to look at, but empty of story (Kingdom of Heaven, King Arthur) and some are just a little different (The Princess Bride). Probably the best recent knight/medieval movies are the LOTR trilogy, and the knighthood stuff was overshadowed by the elves and the hobbits and such.

potpourri

Played volleyball last week without damaging any major body parts. Only some of you have any idea how momentous that is. My brother and I were talking about how sad it is that our physical peak was, like, age 18-21. Not that we're professional athletes, but that seems way too small of a window.

If you ever had any doubt, don't ever, ever mess with the Madden Curse. As videogame savvy as most football players are, you'd think they'd eventually refuse to be on the cover. They can't MAKE you be on the cover of anything, can they?

I really like Canadian trance nerds the Junior Boys. I also really like the aptly named, Jet-but-better-guilty-pleasure Dirty Pretty Things. They make driving to and from work much easier to bear. And I am entranced by the soothing lilt of Priscilla Ahn, whose last name allows me to indulge in the idle fantasy of being married to a singer/songwriter, you know, the one who'll put you in the liner notes in the part where she thanks everyone, writing a cryptic line like "Thanks for warning me about the purple alligators" and only you know what the heck that means in the first place.

I've tried bringing in music to class, but the speakers are limited to small ones connected to the teacher's computer, and most of the kids bring their music players anyway. I'm curious as to what they listen to.

what's with the funny hat?

Happy feast day of St. Andrew Kim Taegon (left) and St. Paul Chong Hasang + companions. Sts. Andrew and Paul were among the Korean martyrs who were executed over a period spanning 1839-1867, back when Korea still had minimal contact with the outside world.

My favorite part of this rather grisly martyrdom story is that Christianity was planted on the soil not by missionaries, but by several books on Christianity that they had obtained on trips to the foreign embassy in Beijing. A group of people immediately converted and a community of the faithful flourished underground, so when French missionaries finally arrived in 1836, they found a community in the thousands who'd never seen a priest before. John Paul II canonized St. Andrew (the first native Korean priest), St. Paul, and the martyrs on May 6, 1984. I'd like to think that it's no coincidence that my brother was born in the same month and year.

"Even though the Christians in the first half century had only two priests from China to assist them, and these only for a time, they deepened their unity in Christ through prayer and fraternal love; they disregarded social classes and encouraged religious vocations. And they sought ever closer union with their Bishop in Peking and the Pope in faraway Rome...

The splendid flowering of the Church in Korea today is indeed the fruit of the heroic witness of the Martyrs. Even today, their undying spirit sustains the Christians in the Church of silence in the North of this tragically divided land...

The Korean Martyrs have borne witness to the crucified and risen Christ. Through the sacrifice of their own lives they have become like Christ in a very special way. The words of Saint Paul the Apostle could truly have been spoken by them: We are "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies . . . We are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh".

The death of the martyrs is similar to the death of Christ on the Cross, because like his, theirs has become the beginning of new life. This new life was manifested not only in themselves - in those who underwent death for Christ - but it was also extended to others. It became the leaven of the Church as the living community of disciples and witnesses to Jesus Christ. "The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians": this phrase from the first centuries of Christianity is confirmed before our eyes." -- Pope John Paul II, Seoul, May 6, 1984.

Like my brother said, "Dude. It's OUR day." Sts. Andrew and Paul, pray for us.

Godspeed

Typical 2006 White Sox game:

Fall behind early in the game? Check.

Junkball pitcher with average changeup dominates? Check.

Lefthanded opposing pitcher dominates? Check.

Horrendous Mackowiak error? Check.

One crappy relief performance (minimum)? Check.

Ozzie leaves in starter too long? Check.
Offense wholly consisted of home runs? Check.

Choke with runners in scoring position? 13 left on base. Check.

Thanks for 2005.

good tidings, good innings

A sea change for the Palehose Six? Starters in their last few outings:

Garland's last 6 starts
43.7 IP, 25 Ks, 1.44 ERA, 0.98 WHIP

The Count's last 3 starts
21 IP, 23 Ks, 1.71 ERA, 1.00 WHIP

Fifth Inning Javy's last 3 starts
26.7 IP, 24 Ks, 2.36 ERA, 1.01 WHIP

First Inning Freddy's last 2 starts
14.1 IP, 11 Ks, 1.28 ERA, 0.78 WHIP

Buehrle's last 4 starts
24.3 IP, 13 Ks, 4.07 ERA, 1.60 WHIP (ugh)

Vazquez's and Contreras' showings are particularly encouraging. Yet, despite the resurgence of the starters, Sox are only 11-8 in this span, including 0-3 for Vazquez starts. Buehrle still sucks, but at least he's league average.

Sox continue to sputter, however. The negatives:

• Sox still have to face Oakland, Detroit, Seattle and Minnesota, by far the most difficult stretch left out of the 3 Central leaders. (Detroit faces Bal, the Sox, KC twice and Tor, while Minny gets Cle, a depleted Boston, Bal, KC, and the Sox.)
• Ozzie keeps doing stupid things out of arrogance or loyal machismo, like continuing to waste leadoff ABs for Podsednik, despite the fact that Scotty refuses to even *run* well, let alone, hit, field, bunt, etc. He needs to hit 9th, and start packing his bags, thanks for 2005, cuz he won't be here next year.
• Ozzie keeps using Jenks despite Bubba giving up runs in his last 4 outings (2 blown saves and a loss). He's hurt and his velocity's down, and Ozzie keeps rolling him out there. Part of it is not having a reliable reliever outside of Thornton, but when every win is precious, call me crazy, you don't go with your injured closer.
• Ozzie also keeps trotting out Rob Mackowiak's carcass out in CF, despite Brian Anderson hitting like a real major leaguer since the AS break. He even has new hotness Ryan Sweeney who can play center, but he gets no use, cuz apparently Ozzie is willing to sacrifice wins for getting Rob regular ABs. Sweeney's played CF and LF throughout his professional career. Mackowiak never played center until this year. I need to go lie down.
• Sick of Sox hitters flailing away early in the count, Pierzynski and Uribe being the worst culprits. Maybe they're buying into the fact that the Sox can't seem to score unless they hit home runs.

However, circumstances are setting up for the Sox to make a run, ever since Black Jack McDowell has brought good mojo by sitting in for Hawk on the TV call on Saturday (9/9).

• Minnesota got Liriano back, but looks like they've lost him to injury in his first start back.
• Detroit 's won 3 out of their last 10, and got a particularly good thrashing by the Twins.
• Sox have taken 2 of 3 so far on the dreaded West Coast Roadtrip (TM), including a one-hitter from Hash Pipe Freddy.

The verdict? They've gotten a lot of breaks, but these are meaningless unless they take advantage of them. But a playoff spot is still there for the taking.

memory

On another sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.

But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up and stand before us." And he rose and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Looking around at them all, he then said to him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand was restored.

But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

--Luke 6:6-11

"Sometimes it seems to us that God is not governing the world very attentively. We wonder why he does not with one nod of his head crush and grind to dust all [his enemies]... That's the way our narrow, finite minds think. But God in his eternal wisdom judges otherwise. He sees that persecutions purify souls as fire cleanses gold... Inscrutable and most wise always are the ways of God!

Nevertheless, this in no way means we are to fold our hands and allow the enemy to play around with the souls of men. Not in the least! On the other hand, we must in no way try to correct God's Infinite Wisdom, or tell the Holy Spirit what to do. Rather we must allow him to lead us.

Let us imagine therefore, that we are brushes in the hands of an infinitely perfect artist. What must the brush do to make the picture perfectly beautiful? It must allow itself to be used in a perfect way. A brush could, of course, aspire to correct an earthly, finite, erring artist, but when Eternal Wisdom, God, uses us as instruments, then our activity will be most consistently perfect when we allow ourselves to be led completely and wholly by him.

-- St. Maximillian Kolbe, 1932

"The world needs God. We need God, but what God? The definitive explanation is to be found in the one who died on the Cross: in Jesus, the Son of God incarnate ... love to the end."

"This is the God we need. We do not fail to show respect for other religions and cultures, profound respect for their faith, when we proclaim clearly and uncompromisingly the God who encounters violence with his own suffering; who in the face of the power of evil exalts his mercy, in order that evil may be limited and overcome."

-- Pope Benedict XVI, 9/10/06, Munich

laboring

Neuroscientists say that visual art, such as Wassily Kandinsky's paintings, can be heard as well as seen.


Kandinsky's "Composition VIII," 1923. It makes sense to me that sound could be represented this way, but I'm curious to see if someone would perceive it as something more visually realistic. Maybe that doesn't make any sense.

American military deaths in Iraq have gone over 2,600 since March 2003. Ugh.

Over the weekend, a friend told me about a website (some additional media coverage) that allows for teachers to sell and pay for lesson plans made by other teachers. Personally, I think I'd have to be in a pretty desperate place to use plans from someone that I don't know, but I could see it working for something universal, like grammar or particular types of writing. In theory, it's no different than the shiny catalogs teachers get in the mail all the time touting brand new curricula, and you don't have any more guarantee of classroom success. It's a pretty good idea, actually, if done right. I kind of wish I knew about this earlier because, despite my short life in the profession, I have a whole bunch of handouts, lessons, and unit plans that were just sitting on my computer. It would've been nice to have some pocket money while looking for work, and offer something of value to somebody at the same time.

It does kind of violate the ethos of sharing teaching materials, since most teachers share for free with coworkers, but I suppose you can justify the cost if it's low enough (educators not being the richest people in the world). There are open source educational material projects out there. In theory, if a teacher is up late planning one night, and can't seem to come up with something, would paying a couple of dollars (the sellers can set their prices) for a grammar handout be worth it? It might be, for the convenience and the time saved. Another "macro" issue would be copyright; there's some contention as to whether teacher-produced materials belong to the author(s), or the school, or the district.

I've been following English Premier League soccer regularly, helped by a new laptop (which has been the bane of my productivity). The latest story involves defender William Gallas (shipped to Arsenal after a nasty spat with Chelsea) and how Chelsea alleges that he'd start kicking the ball into his own net if he didn't get transferred to another club. I love how ridiculous this is, if it's true. I can't even think of an equal counterpart in American sports. Euro soccer players pout like no other.

fantasy football draft day is like christmas

Some people wake up on a glorious late summer/early autumn Saturday morning and sip in the sunshine from mowing the lawn, wiping the last suds from the hood of the car, or leisurely leafing through the paper on the patio.

Not me. I rolled out of bed, landed on the "power" button of my laptop, and drafted my customary random league football team. Who needs a girlfriend/hobby/breakfast?

I've already drafted in my keeper leagues, which have been, conservatively speaking, Hindenburg level disasters. How does this happen? 1) You don't make it to one of the drafts because you're picking up your little priest brother from the airport, leaving you to the fickle whims of Fraulein Auto Pick and 2) keeper leagues horde running backs the way third world dictators collect weapons grade plutonium. I'm pretty sure right now there's a waiver claim for Shaun Alexander's 2 yr old daughter. It's crazy. My off-time happiness shouldn't have to depend on the performance of Wali Lundy, or how gimpy Corey Dillon is feeling.

Sticking myself in a random redraft league of complete strangers gives me the chance to start afresh, unburdened by the failures/legacies of the previous year, and to (hopefully) whoop up on 5th graders and old ladies. Hey it's still competition; if they don't want to get BEAT, they should STAY HOME and play Risk. Picking 5th in a 10 team league.

1. Ronnie Brown, RB, Mia - didn't want Edge (crappy OL), Portis (bum shoulder). Maybe should've taken Rudi? Argh. Fantasy sports always seduces you with potential.
2. Lamont Jordan, RB, Oak - decent pick, but I don't like how he faded at the end last year, and the Raiders always seem to bring out the underachiever in everyone. In other news, somebody takes the Chicago defense in this round. This is going well.
3. Chris Chambers, WR, Mia - ready to make the leap, with a real QB throwing to him finally.
4. Roy Williams, WR, Det - nervous about this one cuz he gets hurts, but still banking on the Lions' new Rams offense to put up numbers.
5. Donald Driver, WR, GB - Favre doesn't throw to anyone else.
6. Willie Parker, RB, Pit - was looking to take one QB out of Brady, McNabb and Bulger, but lo and behold all 3 get taken right before. Parker's a good value, but I'm going to be mixing and matching QBs all year.
7. Kurt Warner, QB, Ari - Ugh. Too bad this isn't 1999. I'm still tailspinning from not getting a QB last round and how many good RBs are still left on the board. I still need to brush my teeth.
8. Chris Cooley, TE, Was - Never mind that an Asian guy is drafting a "Cooley."
9. Lawrence Maroney, RB, NE - this year's LJ. On the other hand, what I am doing taking my 4th RB in the 9th round.
10. Matt Jones, WR, Jax - Secret weapon #2, after Maroney. Could wrest away the "Best White Wide Receiver" title away from Joe Jurevicious.
11. Chris Simms, QB, TB - Is Kurt Warner 5 picks better than Simms? No. I'm an idiot.
12. DeAngelo Williams, RB, Car - My fav sleeper pick. I can't help myself from picking these; I'm like the guy that takes four too many free samples at the grocery store. By the way, I can only start 2 out of 37 running backs that I now have.
13. Kevin Curtis, WR, StL - Might vie for "Best White Wide Receiver" in a few years. Joe Addai, another sleeper RB, gets taken right afterward. I feel sad.
14. Washington defense
15. David Akers, K, Phi

I need to trade some of my RBs for a better QB. Carson Palmer, I'm looking at you, boyeee.

a list of books

Cuz Melvis made me, and I'm too bland to post anything else.

1) One book that changed your life:
Professionally? In the Middle, by Nancie Atwell, about teaching writing and reading workshop. Personally, the last one would be... A Mother's Plea, by Fr. Anthony Bus.

2) One book you have read more than once:
U2: At the End of the World, by Bill Flanagan

3) One book you would want on a desert island:
A book large enough to build a vessel or turn into ample kindling for firewood. So, this Ming dynasty manuscript with over 23,000 chapters would be perfect. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind plowing through Moby Dick again, being in the middle of the ocean, since I'm the only one I know that likes it anyway. It's got plenty of pages for kindling, too.

4) One book that made you laugh:
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. "YOUR MOTHER HAS THE BEST BREASTS OF ALL THE MOTHERS."

5) One book that made you cry:
I haven't cried while reading, but I got really sad after Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer. 9/11 seen through the eyes of a kid.

6) One book you wish had been written:
A Decade of Dominance: The Hegemony of Asian Men over Mainstream American Society and the White Sox Championship Run, 2005-2014.

7) One book you wish had never been written:
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers. Ugh. So. De. Pre. Ssing. This made midwestern winter nights during high school a LOT more bleak.

8) One book you are currently reading:
Prayer Primer, by Fr. Thomas Dubay.

9) One book you have been meaning to read:
Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami.

insurrection of the brain

I have to reel my summer mind back into work mode.

The headaches have ceased with increased water consumption. Coffee is out of the diet, except on weekends.

Now to eliminate waking up mid-sleep cycle. I'm guessing the key is, no naps.

It's great seeing my brother. But I feel that I haven't spent very much time with him, and he's gone for two weeks to Kansas already. He'll have two weeks when he comes back, at least. Mostly, I think I'm looking for an excuse to go to another baseball game and to hang with low intensity, low maintenance people.

A lot of my kids are Sox fans. Bonus. Much different than the north shore burbs. Or perhaps the bandwagon is bigger than I thought.

It's hard for me not to compare leading retreats and teaching, since the parallels are pretty obvious. What gets me is how much *harder* teaching is. You'd thinking spending all day on a retreat would be harder than 90 little minutes in the morning involving writing, but... you'd be wrong.

O-F-F to the J-O-B

Off tomorrow for new teacher orientation, followed by meetings (?). Not sure how long the day will be, but getting antsy about starting up; I think if I *had* gotten a job last spring, the wait until August would have killed me. Dunno if it's jitters or ennui or something I ate, but I'm feeling nervous, like I'm fighting myself to do anything aside from laying awake in bed sweating about not knowing what the heck to do when Wednesday comes (which is dumb, I know). I'm hoping it'll subside some more once work gets going.

On a more positive note, it was nice to get out and mingle with nice, normal people (Mel's friends are, despite "adult" treehouses and rollerskating parties) and have a reasonable answer when they ask "so what do you do?" It tells me that I put a lot of stock in what I do, as long as it's doing something. Which strikes me as weird, then, when I lack the overwhelming gratitude that I suspected I might be gushing with when I finally found work. It was more, "alright, finally; let's get going." Which led to the aforementioned mental tossing and turning. I'm some weird psychosomatic hypochondriac. I'm hoping once I get a few days under my belt, I'll be more thankful.

But, as often happens, hardships (even supposed ones) are not unaccompanied by joys. My brother comes home to visit on Tuesday.

Dear sweet baby Jesus...

... thank you for DVD players, that will allow me to enjoy Ricky Bobby indefinitely.

Right before the lights go out, my friend D: "I think this is going to be life-changing." Mmhm. Really solid cast, a la Anchorman, with John C. Reilly, Gary Cole, whoever those two little kids were, and Amy Adams, my favorite Redhead in Hollywood (C).

Odd fact: John Irving writes great stuff involving characters who have strange injuries. There's always somebody around who has a missing finger, eye, nose, etc. It's hard to write about a freak injury in a way that seems totally plausible, and he does it pretty well (yeah, I'm trying to do the same thing).

Good to see the Sox get off on a roll against the good teams (5 of 6 from the Yankee$ and the Tigers), despite the derfman's constant noise about a sweep before it actually happened. I just think it's one of those things that you leave unsaid until it's over, like a no-hitter.


To whit: Last week's game against the Yankees, Randy Johnson (warming up before the game, above) is cruising into the 7th inning, and the Yanks fans in our section start chanting "no-hitter, no hitter!," which is pretty much a guarantee that you're going to lose it. No sooner than they settle down, then the Gooch strokes a sharp single to break it up. I heard later on that the Yankee broadcast team were even mentioning it on the air. Any sports fan worth his/her sand knows that you *never* mention "no-hitter" or "perfect game" until it gets broken up or it actually happens. Lady Luck and her loyal stepbrother, Mo Mentum, don't look kindly on being so brazenly called out. Just one example of some egregious breaches in sports fan etiquette I've been noticing lately. A public service announcement of acceptable conditions would be:

1) Know the basics about your team. Lots of "fans" don't seem to know the names of the players, or the name of the opposing team, etc. That's totally acceptable, you can't know everything. But you can't call yourself a fan of that team, then.

2) Understand what level of fan you are. For instance, if you've just started following a team, then start with the fundamentals, like learning the players' names, what positions they play, etc. like mentioned above. I'm doing this right now with Premier League soccer, with the help of our boarders (Tottenham and Liverpool are their faves). You cannot wade into more advanced topics of fandom until you've learned up the basics. For instance, a newly christened White Sox fan, caught up in the frenzy of last year's playoff run, should not be engaging in any Cubs/Sox debates for the time being. Brashness in a newbie is intolerable, because you'll most likely make the rest of us look stupid. (I.e. Caroline trying to make fun of Maximus for being a Cub fan by taunting him about the Sox's success, except she doesn't know anything about the Sox. Ugh.)

3) Only take middling interest in the success of other teams, unless it directly affects your team. If Detroit ends up winning the whole thing, then good for them, but I'm definitely not sitting around and watching that happen. I'm a fan of MY team, see, so what other teams do is irrelevant. This also means you can't be a fan of two teams; none of this "Cubs AND Sox" or "Mets AND Yankees" nonsense. What's the point? Monogamy is more satisfying, in real life and in sports fandom.

4) If you're taking someone to the game with you, and they're not a fan of the teams that are playing, or don't know anything about the sport, then help them out. I know lots of good female fans, so this is not meant as a stereotype, but I've gone to too many games where a dude brings his clueless girlfriend to the game, and then they're on the cell, or talking about work 75% of the time, or asking really inane questions like "how do they know which direction to run on the bases?" (the only exception to this is little kids). I can't help but think about more deserving supporters who would've really enjoyed those seats. Help your non-sports literate friends out at the game, for everyone's sake. Or just go to Wrigley, where they (mostly) don't care.

no-no

It figures that I'd go the game where my team gets no-hit for 6 innings. Also, blogger is being lame and not letting post pictures. It was fun to be at the ballpark with a playoff atmosphere and ride that emotional rollercoaster on every pitch, but it was the same old story for the Sox. Pitching gives up an early lead that the offense make up the defecit for, defense and bullpen were solid. I just don't see the weaknesses getting better, because there's no consistency. Four guys (Thome, Konerko, Dye, Crede) are carrying the weight of the entire offense, all 5 starting pitchers have been schizophrenic, and the execution of subtler baseball tactics (holding runners on, laying down bunts, taking pitches) has been subpar. There just isn't enough cloth to cover all the holes, not enough consistency and reliability to make it to the postseason. I'm tired of "bases loaded, no outs" and coming up with zero runs.

And despite all this, they're still in the thick of the wildcard hunt. Sox faithful cling to the hope that the sum performance will finally equal the parts, but there don't seem to be any indicators that say otherwise. It's been the same-old, same-old since Opening Day; when the starters do ok, then the offense has enough room to win it (the starters don't really win it, the offense does). When they don't, then all the defense, hitting, and bullpen pitching in the world can't save them. And until that changes, I expect to see some more "bases loaded, no run" situations.

---

So, for those who do not know, I got a teaching job up here in the north 'burbs. (Thanks to y'all who've helped me along for the past 20 months, I know it hasn't always been a picnic.) Off to the races of Adulthood and Responsibility. In the midst of trying to figure it all out, I wrote a lot of personal manifestos, because 1) writing it out makes me feel better and 2) I was trying to figure out if I wasn't having any luck because my teacher antenna was all wrong. Anyway, here's a little blurb. It was sort of an open letter type deal:

...I get along with people. I like making them feel comfortable, because if they're comfortable, then they're willing to listen to me. It's reciprocal, isn't it? If I listen to you, then you might listen to me. I want people to get better at whatever it is that they want to do. I want to serve them in this way. Not because I know so much more, necessarily, but because everybody needs that
help to get better. I don't see them as empty vessels that I need to fill and anoint with my Knowledge. I want them to be good people. I want them to be the ones making the decisions in the future that are going to change the world. Because, you see, this is how I change the world, by affecting the ones that will change the world in the future. And I wouldn't be a responsible mentor to them (yes, I see myself as a role model, and I take that seriously) if I didn't give them an ability or a desire to choose to do the right thing, whatever that right thing may be in their different, unique, individual selves. Not some fakey all-inclusive, mind-flabby "tolerance" that just accepts everything, but to hone their minds as a sharp tool that desires to know the truth about everything. Because knowing that "true thing" is how you do the right thing. I believe that if you follow what's true, then it follows that you'll do the right thing. I think that's the key to finding happiness and fulfillment and deep, substantial joy with yourselves, and isn't that what we want? Isn't that what we want our kids to have? This is what we do when we study literature; we're searching for the truth. We talk about wanting to shape and nurture young minds; what better lesson can be taught than this? To discern what is true. To understand what the guiding principles are for how we make our decisions.

I suppose the true proving ground for all this idealism will be the classroom, starting in late August. Can't wait.

3 up, 3 down

Checked out the new Miami Vice yesterday. It's a competent remake, but seems to lack a certain energy to it. Maybe it has to do with the excessive handheld camerawork (IiIiI LlLooOOvvVeee sSShhHaaAAkkKKyyyYYy iiiIImmMaaAAAggGGeeESSSss), or the slightly out of focus screen at the theater, or the mumbled dialogue.

Also, Colin Farrell is a fungible part in almost every movie he's in, but he did ok here. It seems to me that he's best when he has some kind of controlled fury in his performances, but he's never done that except in Daredevil. Yet, all the hype. Again, the vagaries and mystery of celebrity-dom.

Schlepped over to Lula Cafe for some excellent food and wine. Highly recommended for small groups for dinner, and it has that Logan Square indie chic about it. Yes, it was tempting to jump on the piano that we were seated by, but we refrained from punishing everyone with my version of "The Entertainer."


Capped off the evening by heading over to watch Exit Clov, a DC band fronted by two acquaintances from undergrad, who happen to be identical twins. It's weird watching and hearing two people sing that have the exact same voice; it's like a living, organic echo/delay. (As a side note, it's also weird to see people that you knew in younger, more formative settings go on to do things like be in a band, or broker deals with multimillion dollar corporations, or doctors, etc. You know, really respectable or cool or responsible things. I guess it's only weird because I still see myself as really young still.) They're a pleasant mishmash in the land of No Doubt or the Cranberries, but Veruca Salt with more musical talent strikes me as the best description. Good times all around.

...and all i got was this shirt

Nothing says "I had a good trip" like a happy group photo.

The kids? Deep. And hungry, starving, for truth.

The leaders? Selfless. And patient.

Our priests? Generous, with their time and their care.

Me? Humbled, at the way God moves souls.

happy friday

Off to see Buehrle (hopefully not) give up another 7 earned to the Rangers tonight. Some home team fireworks would be awfully nice.

White Sox suckitude

Unlike the last time I left town, my baseball team has stunk it up, losing 5 of 6, granted, to two of the best teams in baseball (Boston and NYY), but still. Every weakness in the White Sox armor was exposed, from the inconsistent starting pitching, Ozzie's propensity to sometimes overmanage the bullpen, and an over-reliance on the offense to bail us out.

Something even more frustrating is that it's difficult to pinpoint how to get better via trade, which the harpies in the media are clamoring for. But, what are you supposed to do when all the pieces are there but they're just not performing? Coming into the season, who had a starting rotation that was better, upgraded by Javier Vazquez over the aging El Duque? The offense was rejuvenated with Jim Thome, who has more than pulled his own weight with an MVP caliber season. The bullpen was a work in progress, but has improved with the additions of Thornton and Riske, and anchored by Bubba Jenks, who was just as clutch as Hermanson last year. The defense was intact and has maintained its high level of play, although not as high as Detroit's (seriously, they're off the charts on defense this year).

So what's the deal? I think the starting rotation is suffering from playoff fatigue. Too many extra innings in a long postseason run takes its toll on a staff, no matter how tough they are. The Sox have already lost Politte for the season, Contreras started the season on the DL with some arm issues, Buehrle's complaining of a dead-arm, Freddy has lost some noticeable velocity. Only Garland, who pitched the least amount of innings in the postseason (but also has an excellent track record of health) has been unscathed, although his ERA is north of 5.

So, is there anything to the playoff fatigue idea? Of course I'm going to find out. I went back to 2000, since we've had 6 different World Series winners since then, to track the fate of the starters and primary relievers in the season following the World Series year. Granted, there's only so in-depth I will go here, short of tracking pitch counts for every game, etc., but I am working on the assumption that most playoff teams shorten up their staffs to use only their top 3 starters and 3 relievers, using only the #4 starter maybe once a round and to keep everyone on regular rest. Playoff pitchers tend to throw more pitches, especially relievers who might come in on consecutive days will wear out quickly (look what happened to Keith Foulke). Anyway, we start with the 2000 Yankees.

2000 Yankees (16 playoff games)

starters	age	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)	playoff IP
Pettitte	28	204.7, 19-9, 4.35	31.7
Hernandez	34	195.7, 12-13, 4.51	29.7
Clemens	37	204.3, 13-8, 3.70	28.0
closer
Rivera	30	75.7, 36 sv, 2.85	15.7, 10 appearances

Fate in 2001?

starters	team	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)
Pettitte	NYY	200.7, 15-10, 3.99
Hernandez	NYY	94.7, 4-7, 4.85
Clemens	NYY	220.3, 20-3, 3.51
closer
Rivera	NYY	80.7, 50 sv, 2.34

In 2001, the Yankees made it back to the World Series and were only a couple outs away in Game 7, so I'd say they bounced back well from the 2000 playoff run, aside from El Duque falling apart. Onto the D-backs.

2001 Diamondbacks (17 playoff games)

starters	age	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)	playoff IP
Schilling	34	256.7, 22-6, 2.98	48.3
Unit	37	249.7, 21-6, 2.49	41.3
Batista	30	139.3, 11-8, 3.36	21.7
closer
BKim	22	98.0, 19 sv, 2.94	9.7, 6 appearances

Fate in 2002?

starters	team	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)
Schilling	Ari	259.3, 23-7, 3.23
Unit	Ari	260.0, 24-5, 2.32
Batista	Ari	184.7, 8-9, 4.29
closer
BKim	Ari	84.0, 36 sv, 2.04

Arizona basically used 3 starters for their entire playoff run. The next year, they won their division again with an even better record, but were bounced in the NLDS by St. Louis. My playoff fatigue theory looks stupid at this point.

2002 Angels (16 playoff games)

starters	age	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)	playoff IP
Washburn	27	188.3, 18-6, 3.15	28.7
Lackey	23	108.3, 9-4, 3.66	22.3
Appier	34	206.0, 14-12, 3.92	21.3
closer
Percival	32	56.3, 40 sv, 1.92	9.7, 9 appearances

Fate in 2003?

starters	team	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)
Washburn	Ana	207.3, 10-15, 4.43
Lackey	Ana	204.0, 10-16, 4.63
Appier	signed with KC	111.7, 8-9, 5.40
closer
Percival	Ana	49.3, 33 sv, 3.47

Appier basically had his last good year. Washburn, Lackey, and Percival all had ERA increases by at least a run the following year, which can't all be due to bad defense. Hmmm. They finished 8 games under .500 in 2003 (77-85). I think the Sox pitchers are generally better than these Angels, but the meltdown of the entire staff is hard to dismiss. Lackey is the only above average starter left from this staff.

2003 Marlins (17 playoff games)

starters	age	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)	playoff IP
Beckett	23	142.0, 9-8, 3.04	42.7
Penny	25	196.3, 14-10, 4.13	22.0
Pavano	27	201.0, 12-13, 4.30	19.3
Redman	29	190.7, 14-9, 3.59	18.0
closer
Urbina	29	77.0, 32 sv, 2.81	13.0, 10 appearances

Fate in 2004?

starters	team	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)
Beckett	Fla	207.3, 10-15, 4.43
Penny	traded to LAD	204.0, 10-16, 4.63
Pavano	Fla	111.7, 8-9, 5.40
Redman	traded to Oak	191.0, 11-12, 4.71
closer
Urbina	signed with Det	54.0, 21 sv, 4.50

Beckett had one of his normal inconsistent regular season, Penny had shoulder issues, Pavano had a career year, Redman suffered with the league change, and Urbina had off the field issues that affected him. I think this staff is the closest in makeup to the current White Sox staff, and they seemed to weather the storm well. The only difference is that Beckett was fresh for the postseason because he missed time during the year, whereas that won't be the case for the Sox staff going into the 2006 playoffs. All of these pitchers were young, also, which may add something to their resiliency. Florida finished 4 games above .500 in 2004.

2004 Red Sox (14 playoff games)

starters	age	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)	playoff IP
Pedro	32	217.0, 16-9, 3.90	27.0
Schilling	37	226.7, 21-6. 3.26	22.7
Lowe	31	182.7, 14-12, 5.42	19.3
closer
Foulke	31	83.0, 32 sv, 2.17	14.0, 11 appearances

Fate in 2005?

starters	team	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)
Pedro	signed with NYM	217.0, 15-8, 2.82
Schilling	Bos	93.3, 8-8. 5.69
Lowe	signed with LAD	222.0, 12-15, 3.61
closer
Foulke	Bos	45.7, 15 sv, 5.91

Schilling, after the Bloody Sock of Turin incident, collapsed in 2005, perhaps setting the bar for pitcher endurance, but has bounced back in 2006. Foulke had to have knee surgery, and has yet to come back after a Rivera-like effort in the championship run. Lowe's numbers went up because of the league change. Boston tied for the division lead in 2005, but got knocked out in the ALDS.

2005 White Sox

starters	age	regular season (IP, W-L, ERA)	playoff IP
Contreras	33	204.7, 15-7, 3.61	32.0
Buehrle	26	236.7, 16-8, 3.12	23.3
Garcia	30	228.0, 14-8, 3.87	21.0
Garland	25	221.0, 18-10, 3.50	16.0
closer
Jenks	24	39.3, 6 sv, 2.75	8.0, 6 appearances

Looking above, there isn't a team that had a starting rotation that came into a playoff run with the starters having pitched so many innings (Sox had four pitchers above 200 IP). Also, it seems that the pitchers who bounced well after long playoff runs were freakish Hall of Fame types (Schilling, Unit, Clemens, Pedro), a proven playoff performer (Pettitte) or hadn't pitched very much in the regular season (Beckett). None of these examples are very helpful in thinking about the Sox. The most helpful parallel seems to the Florida staff from 2003, which was similiar composed of 5 above average performers instead of being top-heavy with two aces. Power pitchers seem to fare better, also, which bodes well for Contreras only.

It seems like the playoff fatigue for pitchers theory may hold some water. But, what is there to be done about it? We could have each of the starters skip a start in the next few months, with Brandon McCarthy taking their place, but that shortens a bullpen that still needs help.
Should the Sox trade for another starter? Who's available that is better than what is already here? The trade rumors for Jason Schmidt are totally ridiculous, especially since the Giants are still competing for the division, he costs too much ($10.5 mm), and missed time last year with shoulder issues. The other names on the market are Livan Hernandez, Rodrigo Lopez, and Tony Armas Jr. Ugh. All the other big names on the market are hitters, and we don't need more hitters. Speaking of other rumors, I'm getting ill at the thought of Abreu in a Bankees uni or CLee in a Tigers hat. Soriano to the Angels also freaks me out.

The scenario that makes the most sense for the Sox is to trade a starter (probably Garcia) for a top bullpen arm and a blue chip pitching prospect, and move McCarthy into the 5th spot. I keep hearing Tom Gordon, which is fine, altho a little too pricy for me. But it's the right idea. A backup catcher that can actually throw people out and a righty bat off the bench would be nice too. But, the Sox have the best bargaining chip out there (surplus starting pitching), so hopefully they can get something useful with it.

"God bless God"

The first day on a retreat is usually the most difficult for any number of different reasons, from lack of sleep, lack of food, tracking registrations, handling money, locating supplies, and fielding questions from the parents (no ma'am, you cannot pull your daughter early from the retreat for soccer practice). I try to fight it, but usually I get really cranky because I'm running around counting markers and picking up Chinese food instead of doing what I really love, which is interacting with the kids and helping my staff. Needless to say, I don't get a really clear picture of what's really going on at the nitty gritty level of the retreat until after the first *full* day.

Right from the first night, I had some misgivings, from the relatively small turnout (less than 50), the crop of first-time leaders, but it all turned around so quickly when I saw the kids get into it. We had an amazing spiritual director, Fr. Ben, who was able to devote all of his time to our program for the 5 days. I've never heard so many teenagers say they actually enjoyed sitting in a room to hear talks in the middle of the summer as when they were with Fr. Ben. He has that rare gift of parsing complex ideas into digestible pieces, and along with his infectious joy and sonic boom of a voice, he'll stand out as someone we'll never forget. "God bless God!" he'd rumble, by way of greeting and general benediction, reasoning that since all of our gifts are from the Almighty Himself, when we do something to please God, it's like God is blessing Himself. The kids were repeating it all week. It's a good sign when they're quoting your speakers over lunch.

We slept in boxes again, like we did for the Washington program. I wondered how well the Box City concept would work here. Basically, as a sign of our acceptance of our own spiritual poverty, we put the kids in a context of physical poverty, sleeping outside using boxes as shelter, such as the poor and homeless might. Earlier in the day, we took the kids to visit the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run a nursing care facility in Palatine. The sisters only take in residents who've run out of every other form of support, and basically take care of them free of charge. So the kids' eyes and minds were filled with that experience as we transitioned into Box City. I was worried about a "slumber party" atmosphere, or that it would make a mockery of the very real poverty that the homeless and the poor face, but the kids took it with the appropriate reverence. A bunch of the kids wrote "God bless God" on the outside of their box shelters.

One moment that sticks out in particular is a group of girls (the kids slept out in their small groups) who were making triangular tepee shelters with their boxes. One of the leaders suggested a different design for the cardboard pieces, but the girls replied, no we want to make it triangular because we want to "sleep within God, just like Fr. Ben said." They were referring to a diagram that Fr. Ben had used to explain God's equal presence throughout all of time (circular, instead of linear, totally fascinating stuff), and Father had used a triangle to show God's simultaneous presence at the beginning of time, at the death of Christ on the cross (like in the Mass), and our own deaths, and now here were these little 13-yr olds, on the back lawn of Marytown, making little tepees as a manifestation of what they learned. Awesome. I noticed another kid not using her cardboard pieces, not even a garbage bag as a cover over the grass, and I asked whether she needed anything. She replied, well, I'm not going to use the boxes because I was thinking about the homeless, and they don't even have sleeping bags like we do. So she'd decided to offer up that little bit of extra discomfort. Amazing kids, seriously. What was I worried about again?

Two down, one more to go in Toronto. I'll put up pictures when I get my camera charger back.