Saturday Night

Spent most of Saturday night over at my parents. My mother had a seizure last night so I went over to see her for a while, the short time while she was awake. She has had seizures before, but they still don't know what is causing them. She seems to be doing fine, but was very tired. So, I spent a few hours over there to be with her, and try to watch her for a little while so dad could relax a little. Don't know if he did or not. After she went to bed, dad, Jason and I watched The Maltese Falcon (1941) Jason had bought it for dad for his birthday last week. An excellent film, if you have not seen it, I would highly recommend it. It is #56 on IMDB.com Top 250. One of the things I noticed is that there are several plot elements that would be impossible to put into a story today, with technology being different and viewers having seen some of the plot elements used. Being a writer of limited talent, I find it hard to come up with a story that is not deriviative of something. And based on the number of bad films, stories and shows out there, I am not the only one that finds it difficult. Still, I wondered if there have been people that have written extensions of the film, picking up the story of the Falcon at other points. Maybe someone has the bird, maybe someone sees the film and recognizes someone in it that is their grandfather. The classic movie pitch - It's Maltese Falcon meets Rumor Has It.

Another thing I was thinking, once I got home and started playing some solitare - let's not even talk about the fantastically boring life I lead by the way - and listening to Neil Young. His song "Like A Hurricane" has the following lyrics.

You are like a hurricane

There's calm in your eye.

And I'm gettin' blown away

To somewhere safer

where the feeling stays.

I want to love you but

I'm getting blown away.



I am just a dreamer,

but you are just a dream,

You could have been

anyone to me.

I love that first line of the chorus. Absolutely astounding. Imagery that really brings home the force of personality.

Anyway, just wanted to share that lyric with you. I think I will finish my beer and go to bed. Feel better mom.

Sean

Baseball thoughts

I don't really want to comment on the whole Kenny Rogers dirty hand thing except to say "Stop it" and this really shows that rules in baseball are malliable at best. There are several rules that many have mentioned, but one I want to talk about is how pitcfhers are allowed to put their hands to their mouth when it is cold outside, but this is a ball when it is not cold. I think the umps actually tell the pitchers when it is cold enough. Ok, so that is pretty dumb rule that changes with the weather. Here is the real problem shown by that, the damn season is way to long!!! We shouldn't be playing the World Series in 40 degrees or colder. This is supposed to be the showcase of the two best teams, representing their leagues and they are playing a different game than during most of the season, during the hot summer months. The playoffs should be over by end of September, but I think I would settle for mid-October. How could this be accomplished? Well, eliminated the division playoffs would be a start, but a very bad one. I think the addition of the wild card has been good. I say remove 18 games from the regular season. This would allow the seaon to start a week later and end with enough time to get three weeks of playoffs before it gets too cold and the nature of the game changes. Plus, with a shorter season, and I think hockey and basketball would benefit from this, each game would mean more, and that is always a good thing

Where would those 18 games come from? Isn't that how many inter-league games that are played? hmmm....

Of course many people would fight this since it would mean less revenue for the owners, comparisons of records with prior seasons would be tough, but these are things that can be worked out. Less revenue for the owners? Ok, cut the players salary by 18/162 percent. Plus, with each game meaning more, there is a possibility that each game would generate marginally more revenue. Also, there is no reason, with the extra time we now have, that they couldn't make the division series a seven game series as well. Two more high-profit games for owners. (I have already talked about the 2-3-2 ... um ... disgraceful playoff format). And the reocrds thing, ahh, that was a straw man, nobody really cares about that. They mess with the game all the time.

Actually, one other point about the 2-3-2. I mentioned the logistics would be a bear, but wouldn't the extra travel and expense be good for the economy in a 2-2-1-1-1? Think of all that extra cash spent at the hotel, by the fans, by the press. Hotels and airlines need revenue right now. This would help the country, it's a patriotic thing.

Oh, and get rid of home team being determined by All Star game - stupid, stupid, stupid. The All Star game is an exhibition, get over it.

I am sure there are other problems with my ideas, but I can't think of them right now. Maybe you can tell me.

Later

Saturday Morning - 10/21

Hello all - and Happy Birthday to my brother Jason.

Well, I actually got up this morning and made myself breakfast. It has been a while since I tried to make an omelette, and I can tell I am out of practice, not that I was ever very good to begin with. It was too big, too many eggs, and I was using the wrong tool for the flip attempt. And ground beef might not be the best additive. I did fry the ground beef first, in case you are worried. It's ok.

I did have an interesting thought this morning. I have long dreamed about flying to Alaska, renting a car and just driving. I was wondering if the rental car companies in Alaska were renting low-emission or no-emission vehicles. I would guess that a lot of the tourists going to Alaska were ecologically friendly and would be willing to spend a little more to make sure the environment stays clean.

Not going to finish my omelette. Got through about half of it.

Today is a big day in Detroit sports. Michigan v Iowa at the Big House at 3:30 and then Game 1 of the World Series at 7:30 PM tonight at the CoPa. I plan on being at a bar to watch the both of them. I think the best part about playing the Cardinals is that we beat the team with most World Series championships (Yankees), we beat the team tied for second (Athletics) and we get to face the other team tied for second (Cardinals)[from wikipedia]. Seems appropriate if they can complete this run through history. I want to get real confidient and proclaim the Tigers the champs, but things can happen, things can happen. Go Tigs.

Ok, going to do the dishes and eat the last KitKat bar I found in my fridge. I was giddy when I found it. I told my friend earlier this week that a cold KitKat bar might be just a half step away from heaven. I just went and found the website for KitKat to add the link above and this is the statement on the page (which is a different site, don't ask me why).

KIT KAT wafer bar
KIT KAT's light, crispy wafers in chocolate are a simple treat that complements your lighthearted, positive approach to life.

I love that statement. Maybe I will start to take a more lighthearted, positive approach to life.

Sean

Friday night - The night before

Big day tomorrow. It's 9:30 on a Friday night, and I am at home blogging in my underwear. Not exactly the fast lane. (By the way, did you know that phrase came from the song and not the other way around?) At work I spent some time trying to find a copy of the radio call (by the excellent Dan Dickerson of WXYT) of Magglio's ALCS winning home run. My mother is going crazy for it, she says she can listen to it over and over again.

Found it on the WXYT myspace page. The Tigers Weblog had a link to it (and the other stuff below). Someone also synched up Dickerson's call to the fox feed and put it on youtube (hey, my first youtube link.) Link



They also mentioned that MLB.COM is allowing people to download, for free, the fox feed of the clinching game for each team. It's huge (750 mb), but cool to have.

Also commented on the Tigers Weblog about the pitching rotation - Verlander, Rogers, Robertson, Bonderman. Some people wondered about Bonderman being the guy to only pitch once, but he has had good luck in both game 4's so far....

Just awesome anticipation in this town for this game and this series. Go Tigers.

Thursday morning - 10/19

Wasn't sure about the date there, I just woke up from 13 hours sleep. I did one of those come home and go right to bed nights. Then I woke up briefly at 1:30, but was back in bed 15 minutes later. I don't know if it meant anything - not bouncing around with extra energy or anything.

Anyway, going to the shower, bye.

Out of the shower - Amy Sedaris has a new book out, she was just on the Daily Show, on Earl last week, she is a little hyperkinetic, but I am really drawn to her. Cute and funny, what else could you want.

Sean

Tuesday evening - 10 /17/06

It's quarter after nine, and I feel like going to bed. I thought I would try a post first to see if I wanted to stay up and do some work instead. Not likely, but I figure it is worth a try.

Last three days - got to work on time. Very proud of that.

Have to say something about major sports (Baseball, Basketball, Hockey) playoff formats. I really dislike, okay hate, the 2-3-2 playoff series. I am not sure what I don't like about it, except that it leads to streaks or runs too often. If the home team loses one of the first two games, there is a great possibility they will not play another game at home. I really enjoy the fairness and difficulty of a 2-2-1-1-1 format. I know there is more travel and logistics involved, and the days off are a little different (more in fact), but it can make great series last an additional 2 days. Isn't the savoring of the next game the best thing of all? Think of the extra savor time (Look! A little chart):

Day1 Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5 Day6 Day7 Day8 Day9 Day10 Day11
G G T G G G T G G
Day1 Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5 Day6 Day7 Day8 Day9 Day10 Day11
G G T G G T G T G T G

G=Game Day, T=Travel Day
(Trust me, it looked a lot better in Excel).

Look at those extra days of anticipatory goodness.

I will write some other time about reducing the length of the regular season - for each sport.

Quick note - Lauren Graham on Studio 60 this week. Did I mention I love her? Saw part of Bad Santa this weekend. Ummmmmm. Wow.

Those are the thoughts of the day.

Sean

Monday Morning - 10/16

First of all, Happy Birthday to my father, John Spitsbergen

For some reason, the oft-repeated line of Lex Luthor in Superman (1978), [shouted] "Miss Teschmacher!" kept popping into my head over the weekend. I have no idea why. So I looked her up on the web. See Valerie's hompage here. That's it.

I am awake, time is 8:18 AM. As I stood in the bathroom, I had another real hard internal battler regarding whether to go back to bed or not. Somehow I was able to just get into the shower instead.

I have had a dilemma today, I have Michigan v Iowa tickets for this weekend, but no one to go with me. I would like to sell them, but my normal sources can't go - I think it has something to do with the first game of the World Series being that night. Also, tickets for the WS go on sale and I don't have any cash to buy them. I am crying for sins of my past making my present harder than it should be. Interestingly enough, the song playing in iTunes right now is "Life Will Go On" by Chris Isaak. That seems to be a hint to get over it and also to wrap this up and go to work.

Later.

Paying student athletes

For some reason, in this week leading up to Michigan v Penn State, MSU v OSU, Tigers in the ALCS, Wings season starting and everything else related to great sports stuff, there was a lengthy discussion on one of the stations about paying student athletes. I used to be on the side that says they should be paid, but now I have switched. Got older I guess.

First of all, most athletic departments are in breakeven or deficit most of the time. Where would the money come from?

Second, how do you determine who gets what? Do revenue generating sports get paid and non-generating sports not? That seems nice. Doesn't that vary by school - I would think the Michigan hockey team makes some money, but some schools don't have a hockey team, how do you make rule for that? Do the men get paid more than the women, like in real society (which is not right either). Doesn't the women's basketball team at Tennesee deserve more than that men's team? The lacrosse team puts in just as much time as the football team, I guess.

Still, here is the biggest problem I have. I get tired of the primary argument being that the school makes all the money (and Michigan does make a lot) and the athletes get nothing. Do you have any idea how much that pisses me off? If the students get their degree from the University of Michigan for free, isn't that worth something? My degrees, the big one hanging on the wall next to me, cost about $30,000 or so, and that was 12 years ago. It has been worth more than that. So you are saying that is worth nothing?

How bout that?

Tigers in the World Series

Boy, I don't get to type things that make me that happy very often. mmmm, good feeling. And I am glad to say that I take back most of the things I said about Ordonez, he is not the least clutch player in the history of the game - turns out he just needed the appropriate stage. He went 2-4 with 2 home runs - the first to tie the game and then the other, with two on, to end the game, end the series and send the Tigers, yes, the Detroit Tigers, to the World Series. They have given us an amazing ride, and one of the best things is that, regardless of the outcome, it is very unlikely Mr. I will make Dombrowski dissolve the team, like he had to after the Marlins won in 1997. This might be a good (special?) team for a number of years. Mr. I has shown he will spend the money to be a winner, and now he has a team worth spending money on.
I was not at this game, but I was at the ALDS clinching game, and the way the team came out to celebrate with the fans just shows everyone the special relationship Detroit fans, of any sport, have with their teams, and the hysteria around a winner.
It was a great day all around, as far as I was concerned, except for the $100 bucks I lost at the casino - in the morning, did a charity walk to raise money for breast cancer, I didn't collapse during the walk, the Tigers won, the Gators lost and Michigan won, and moved to No. 2 in the AP poll. And I got to bed early (around midnight) since I didn't feel like writing this post last night.

Just a few notes about the Making Strides against Breast Cancer - this was a nice event that seemed to have plenty of support people to cheer on walkers and provide water along the way. I had not participated in something like this since I was 12 or something like that, so I was happy with the way things went, except for two things. One was the parking, trying to get that many people onto Belle Isle at one time is really hard, and the fact it was held in mid-October. People said it was better weather than in the past (sunny, little windy, mid-40's), but what do you expect? You schedule something on a small island in the middle of October in the winter, you are going to have weather issues. I would personally like to thank the sponsers and especially the people providing water and bathrooms on the course, and the snacks at the end.

Talk to you later. Maybe even later tonight.

Monday Evening TV talk

Thoughts from a weekend (plus a day) watching tv.

I spent a lot of time catching up on Law & Order (CI and SVU) over the weekend so I would have room for this weeks shows. One of the SVU episodes had Leslie Caron (in her first role in a few years) starring as a rape victim. Her performance was amazing. I would not be surprised to be up for a guest starring Emmy, she deserves it.

Just finished watching Studio 60 and I am more and more impressed every week. Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry have great chemistry - they are written as good friends and you can tell from the conversation shortcuts - they don't have to finish thoughts, they have a common framework of a long friendship.

One of the things I have thought about the Studio 60 is that it hit the ground running. There does not seem to be an awkward setup time you usually see in the first few episodes. My feeling is that since it borrows a lot from the framework of both West Wing and Sports Night. The show is exceptional. The only problem with watching a new show is that I have to wait a week to see the next episode.

If only I had powers like Hiro Nakamura in my other favorite new show (I seem to only watch NBC for some reason), Heroes, so that I could jump to the future and see the next episodes.

If you have not watched these shows yet, I would recommend. On NBC.com, you can watch the whole episodes. Or get them off itunes.

Thanks - Sean

Hi from Tuesday

At work now, tired, very tired. We discussed naps at lunch - I think we should put a Murphy Bed in our store room and have a sign in sheet for half hour increments. They all laughed at me.

I am seriously losing the ability to concentrate, like I do everyday mid-afternoon. Today is a lot tougher, really tired for some reason. But, I figured it was better to be sleepy at my desk than asleep at home. Besides, it is continuous audit time of the month and I needed to be here to download and distribute.

That's all I can think of right now.

Sunday night thoughts

Went to the Tigers game today, and all I can say is that I hope that they are better next year. That was truly awful and it has been for the last month. Somebody needs to spend some time with a dictionary and determine the meaning of clutch. Nobody on that team has been clutch the last month. I have gone back and forth over the last few months on who would be the least clutch players on the Tigers - Magglio or Pudge. They have both given us so many moments that I could choose from, and both seemed to be proving me wrong today. Oh wait, until it got close. Building a lead seems pretty easy for these guys, but scoring a run when the game is close? Not these Tigers. Brandon Inge (K with bases loaded and one out in 11th after an error gave them a few runs in the 7th? 8th?) did his best to show he is heavily deserving of that honor. Since is not getting paid as much as the other guys, the expectations are lower. But damn.

My brother and I discussed two great ideas (Not including the great John McKay quote - "Coach, what do you think of your team's execution? I think they should begin immediately" nor that Fernando Rodney should be cut). One was that it would be really cool if someone wrote a program to simulate the fighting styles/capabilities of the animals/figures used as mascots in sports. The first thought was "I wonder who would win a battle between a ram and a lion (the answer from the football field was of course - Rams)?" Discussion then ranged over all kinds of variables - including such great nuggets like if the ram were able to get one shot head on, the lion would be done, but if the lion knew to avoid that, etc. We have all the nature documentaries, could someone use those to determine a true inter species battle royale? Thought that would be fun.

The other thought is that the Detroit Tigers need to publish a list of the songs they play as the players come to the mound or the plate. I know most of the songs for the American players, but some of the Latin players have great songs that I cannot identify (especially Omar Infante). If there is actually anyone out there, and you have been to the ball park, what is your favorite player song - I like Omar's song and Zumaya's song - Voodoo Child (I think). Also, what song would you want played as you came to the plate/mound.

Well, going to bed real soon - did no work stuff this weekend, although I did get a few things done. I can now transfer items from my DVR to my computer, problem is I have now run out of disk space. Might be a drive purchase in my future - I don't need all this blood.

Sean