Nuggets

Opening Day...so far, so good, despite the fact that the Tribe is carrying 8 relievers, some of whom, quite frankly, are just not that good.  The Gomes extention is...well, ok; I mean, I think his defense is legit.  I am not sure that his offense is repeatable, and if he regresses...well, then he is really not worth quite what he is owed.  Still, it is not an awful waste of cash.

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post--chick-fil-a-steals-kfcs-chicken-crown

Should we really be surprised by this?  The food is good, as is the service, and yes, while the chain is known for certain social views...in most of its markets, that is what people believe (and like), and in other places...well, I don't recall "Hate Day" being a complete failure for the company.  And, if the place is known as the fast-food restaurant of evangelicals...well, that is one market niche a lot of firms would love to have in their pockets.

Snow

Beholding global warming as the snow comes down...well, I am shocked, shocked, by this.

Today I performed a random act of social justice...one of our clients had told us she needed a queen bed, and one of our parishioners said she had one, so...I agreed to pick up and deliver it to the client...at the OC, even.  I thought this was excellent -- aside from the storing and the manhandling -- and I agreed.  So, this morning, I trucked the mattress in the Patriotmobile, hauled butt to the OC...and no client.  I called at nine -- the time by which we were supposed to meet -- and she was "running late."  Ten minutes later -- I had to be somewhere else -- I just unloaded it and left.  Oi. 

Anyways...I think the client got the bed -- there was no angry email or call either way -- and off I went...rah.  I had Indian for lunch today -- not quite the first choice -- but it was actually really good; I suspect I got a very mild dish, the naan was delicious, and I didn't have the Gahndi's Revenge within the hour, always an added bonus.

Two sides

So, a friend of mine had an extra ticket to the Buffalo regional NCAA games, so...off I went.  It was actually pretty cool.  Buffalo is in a lot of ways like C-town; some urban development going on, some cool new spots, and plenty of places that look like they should be bulldozed.  As to the hoops, they were fun; I mean, the first game was quite the nail-biter (I think Boeheim is a littel schwarmy, so I don't mind them losing) and the second was interesting; 'Nova did the Duke thing and did nothing but chuck up threes, which sort of works, but not for long, especially when the other teams plays defense and establishes an inside game (I love Duke and Coach K, but that loss to Mercer has to be on him; they played game as if it was a paycheck, and it showed).  UConn has a killer guard and actual players...and it was downhill for Villanova for there.  All of this before a packed and enthusiastic crowd.

My health is about the same, the weather hasn't helped, and while I slept in the car, I didn't the rest of the time, so that was a wash.

BP2K14 has arrived and now I am chock full of player analysis and other cheery baseball details.  Hard to believe given the weather and all the season is upon us (I don't really count the Down Under games).  I am perplexed by the Justin Masterson handwringing; let's look at this:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/masteju01.shtml

I see two good years in five.  Last year saw some good things -- more Ks, less hits, slighly fewer walks.  But, of course, it is something of an outlier, or he alternates good and bad years.  The defense behind him is a concern (more so, to an extent, with Santana at 3B, mitigated by the platooning that goes on with the sidearm delivery), and, well, he is a one-trick pony, pitchwise.  I am not saying that I don't expect good things from him, but I also will not be surprised if he regresses again, and then he really wouldn't be worth the big money, will he now?

Linkage

So...let's see...in the last two days I've caught a bad viral infection (sort of getitng better, not fast enough), put the car in the shop with an expensive-sounding grinding noise, and had a charley horse last nite that hurt..well, not terribly, but enough.  Oi.  I was fairly productive at work -- despite all sorts of things that popped up -- and now have a whole host of other issues to deal with.  Alas.

http://www.the-american-interest.com/articles/2014/03/17/the-rise-of-secular-religion/
I agree with a lot of thing, but I am not sure what is happening is actually religion...at least in some way that anyone else will actually realize...

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/03/should_lawmaker_who_wants_gove.html#incart_river_default

If I was the governor...well, we'd have a lot MORE executions, and I would sign this in a heartbeat (ha!).  For one thing, less of Buckwheat Bob in the Statehouse is probably good, and it's not like he would actually go to any of them, and then of course you could engage in all sorts of mockery.  But that is just me...

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/03/ohio_lawmaker_americas_public.html#incart_river_default

I think there is a bit more to this than meets the eye; for one thing, parents should be making decisions about the education of their children; two, I suspect more and more people are believing that there needs to be more flexibility in the educational system...at all levels.  A system of vouchers and money following the students would sort of work, mainly because it wouldn't be that much different from what we have now; there are many private (Catholic and otherwise) schools that are highly selective; you would simply have a lot more of them.  Public schools would survive, but in places where they don't work (urban areas with lots of dues-paying teachers, a fact we cannot discount), there would be a lot fewer kids in the system.  In places like the BBH schools -- like the communities -- voucher kids would be kept out, and, of course, that would be ok too (I mean, we all know why they would kick them out, but that is another story).  To be sure, the system has too much invested in it now to be really blown up, but....

Hosing

I just remembered today that it has been a while since I've worked on the fiction list; I prolly should get through the pile of books and DVDs first before I return, not that supply does NOT create its own demand.  I saw "End of Watch" last nite -- the Jake Gyllenhal police drama -- and it was quite good.  I was not surprised, but there was some depth to it, in addition to the usual shooting and ennui of police work. 

I've decided that Green Bay got hosed the most in the brackets; they really shouldn't be penalized for playing non D-1 games when the damn tourney gets shut down...  that said, I sort of like OSU in the six spot; I can see them showing off all sorts of defensive intensity and winning the game.  I've noticed NO ONE likes Cincy in round one, which leads me to think I should pick them, they will be wan and hungry.  Everyone also likes MSU and Louisville, and I do as well...though I suspect that is based on a crsory look at the records and their histories, and not the realities of play. 

Caught up

So, I finally finished the Crane bio, and while I still like some of his works, he was a real dick.  Or bipolar.  Or a drunk.  And, given my general dislike of people who act like crap...well, alas.  I think I would have learned more had I been more up on the literary scene of 20s, but...

In the meantime, March Madness rages on.  I think there are a lot of teams in the middle, but not -- save for maybe Florida -- who really stand out.  Ok, I should add Wichita State, maybe Michigan.  I think the Big Ten is NOT benefiting from its top-down strong conference; the losses pile up, and it makes it hard for teams to pass the eye test.  Now watch them go and lay and egg, football-style, in the Tourney.

I went to Mass yesterday, and I have to admit, I was lost and wandering this AM...it was like I had no purpose, or didn't know how to fill the two hours I had.  Odd, very odd.

Letters

It is my favorite time of year -- March Madness -- and the conference finals are actually engrossing, even if the games are not that close (at times); for a lot of schools, it IS one and done, even with the NIT possibilities.  So it is cool...

Dave Jolly won in FL-13, which is sort of surprising, but, as everyone seems to note, is not that important.  I mean, aside from the morale-boost...I am not sure it means much, except for the fact that the GOP is better at mobilizing its base in the mid-terms, which is nice but lacking for the big show.

I am reading a bio of Hart Crane...I always have liked his work, in some ways -- the anachronisms, his sense of phrase -- and, well, let's just say that there are some things I could do without knowing (including, it appears, the symbolic base of my one of my favorites).  It's interesting; most of what we know about him is recreated from letters, which begs the question....how does one know people now?  I mean, after all, emails are ephemeral, and I doubt that one can do enough interviews and the like to re-create the volume of correspondence...

Adventures

OC today...our parish's turn.  I was in the clothing room -- no one wanted to go, and I do not mind -- and it was fairly...quiet.  We gave away well over 300 garments, and you really could not tell; for one thing, people dropped stuff off all day, for another, we kept going in and finding boxes of clothes.  Even after accounting for two bags of garbage...well, it is good, but bad in that there are prolly 300 MORE bags in clothes in storage everywhere else...including my garage.

The February stats:  385 visits, totaling 1,013 people.  Bad weather, I suspect, kept the crowds down.

In other news, we finally won Pub Quiz, ending our four month drought and earning a victory...small crowd, payout is down, not good, but the win is the win.  Lot of pop culture stuff, didn't know that much, though I was surprised with what I did know.

I saw "The Adventures of Robin Hood" -- the Errol Flynn one from the 30s -- a few days back, and man...I mean, the stunt work and the swordplay was cool, but the movie as a whole seemed dated, for want of a word.  I also think part of the problem is that I know the history and thus it's not some happy Norman/Saxon tale (John wasn't all the bad; Richard, let's face it, barely knew England and really didn't give a shit)...so I didn't think it was all it was supposed to be cracked up to be.

speed

You know, the situation in the Ukraine is reminiscent of Hitler, pre-1939...he would march in and take over one country, and there really wasn't anything much that could be done about it....well, not quite true, of course, but...no one seemed in any rush to do it.  I suspect Putin is made of stronger stuff, and no American grenadiers are going to die for the Crimea, but...short of war, there is little that will stop him, and we all know it.

Went to watch a Netflix movie, broken...my library disc is unplayable.  I guess it is a good night to read.