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Stuff + nonsense. Updated daily. So far. Pretty much. Overwrought by Scott Knaster.
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Saturday, October 11, 2003
Boston Brawl
The Red Sox - Yankees series took an ugly turn today: the Yankees won. Oh, and also, weird bad stuff happened.
Cubs and red ivy
Jayson Stark writes about it here. More about red ivy here.
Friday, October 10, 2003
Customers as thieves, enhanced
A maker of really lame copy protection for audio CDs is suing a college student who pointed out just how lame their copy protection is (so lame that you can defeat it by holding down the shift key when you insert the CD, or turning off auto-run, or simply putting the CD into a Mac). The doublespeak coming from the company is breathtaking. This is wrong in so many ways, but no more so than in disrespecting customers in the first place by copy-protecting an audio CD.
iTunes for Windows
Is Apple going to release iTunes for Windows next week? Maybe.
Big Thunder Mountain info
Chuq points to new information about the Big Thunder Mountain crash.
Jumpers
Here is a sad, fascinating story about the Golden Gate Bridge and suicide.
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Pat Robertson favors terrorism
Pat Robertson has suggested blowing up the U.S. State Department with a nuclear bomb.
Walking Directions: Bag End to Mount Doom
Here. (Thanks to Adam.)
Would you like to super-size that coffin?
Swanson now has "Hungry Man XXL" frozen dinners, featuring around 1000 calories and 40 grams of fat or more (note to those unclear: THAT'S TOO MUCH FOR ONE MEAL). There's even a grotesque "Hungry Man All-Day Breakfast" with over 1000 calories and 231% of your daily requirement of cholesterol! For breakfast! Mark Morford in the SF Chronicle rants about this trash food and its relationship to a new growth industry, enormous caskets.
Curse of the Billy Goat
Cubs fans are still trying to get rid of their curse. That was me on KFOG this morning (6:15 AM -- you were listening, weren't you?) explaining this curse to the KFOG Morning Show.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Shoot Britney Spears
The wife of Maryland's governor said she would like to do that. Eh?
Another instant classic
We baseball fans have been blessed by great playoff games this year (the Giants' performance notwithstanding), and last night was another one. Jayson Stark does his usual terrific job of writing about it as a reporter, fan, and baseball nerd.
Gov. Schwarzenegger
Hi, I live in a state that just recalled its governor and elected a man with little relevant experience. Talk about out of touch: I cannot figure this out. Why did so many people vote for Schwarzenegger? I assume they have figured out something I haven't about the guy. I hope he does a great job of making the state a better place.
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Angry Moroccan teacher throws pupils out of window
Here.
Don't try this
The most disturbing Google search in my referrer log: root canal airplane. Hmmm.
Punch a chad
It's election day, and soon I'll go vote against the recall. Why? Because it's the worst, most cynical example of partisan politics I've ever seen. For Darrell Issa and the recall mongers, this is not about what Davis did wrong -- it's all about getting a Republican in office. The reason elected officials have terms in office is so they're not constantly running for re-election. If this recall succeeds, good luck to whichever sucker replaces him.
Let's go, Oakland
The A's are finished, incredibly. They have played 9 games over four years in which they could have won a playoff series; they have lost all 9. I'm not sure why I root against the A's. Probably the 1989 World Series is a big part of it. And, I like the Red Sox. But for me, the A's losing takes the edge off the Giants losing.
Monday, October 06, 2003
Another perspective on baseball fan pain
You can skip the top 2/3rds of this and just read the list at the bottom.
Another take on Cubs & Sox
Funny.
Is that all there is?
The Giants season is over too soon, following two remarkable games in Miami. This series has proven to me that baseball is unanalyzable. Were the Marlins simply the better team? How does the best defensive Giants team in history make 7 errors in 4 games? I dunno. Random thoughts about that series and some of the other amazing games in the division series:What's going on with all the errors, dropped fly balls, hit batsmen, weird plays in the division series? I have a theory: they've changed the baseball. The worst part of baseball is after a disappointing end to the season, the gutless wonders and naysayers crawl out. For example, Ann Killion has uncovered communication problems in the Giants clubhouse. Where was she all season? And Larry Krueger, the guy KNBR keeps around to piss off Giants fans, announces that they had too many pitchers on the roster. Why didn't he say that a week ago? Here's another thing: this stupid macho bit about "playing hurt". If you're too injured to play, it hurts your team, not helps. Another bright guy: immediately after the game, Bobby Valentine popped up on ESPN to criticize the Giants for not using Jose Cruz Jr. as a pinch-runner and putting in Andres Galarraga to play first base. Only problem: both those players were already out of the game. No wonder Valentine is a grinning idiot on TV instead of still managing. Anybody see the end of game 3 and think that Pudge Rodriguez interfered after scoring the go-ahead run? He was exulting with his arms in the air and Torrealba had to go through him to get the ball while the winning run scored. Giants baseball of the past: this series provided strange echoes of 2000 (losing 3-1 to the wild card), 1997 (losing to the Marlins, two 1-run losses in Miami), and even 1912 (dropped fly ball in extra innings helps blow lead). The Giants finally wised up and figured out how to sell tickets by lottery, instead of browser reload hell. They were planning to do that for World Series seats. Maybe next year. The Sox-A's game 3 was the weirdest baseball game I ever saw. Jerome Williams pitching game 4 was the right call.
