The last post...for now

You know, I should prolly do some dusting around here; it's a little thick in some places, and it would behoove me to do it...sort of like my car, save for the fact that I would prolly breathe better or need to clean my glasses less in a day.  May as well replace the furnace filter as well, as I suspect that contributes to the problem.

Finished The Emergence of Lincoln and moved on to The 2015 Bill James Handbook, which is an impressive way of starting the new year -- by crunching baseball data.  It was part of the Xmas haul, and as noted before, we need to get some reading done...so much so, in fact, that my plan of watching a short on the NFR list has been delayed.  Alas, alack...I mean, I guess I can play the long game with the registry, as there are still 400 and change entries to go. 

In the meantime, be safe and have fun, everyone.

Rushes

I am bemused by the whole Scalise story...I for one do not think he will be losing his job.  First, the Grimm situation was the needed scalp, and the rest...well, it is Louisiana.   A more practical reason is that the GOP had to undergo some...well, shuffling of chairs, if you will, to get him the role in the first place as an acceptable compromise candidate.  I don't think anyone -- especially Boehner -- wants to go through that ordeal again, especially with an even more conservative house.

I was on a mini fest of film watching lately -- a couple of shorts over the weekend, and two in the past two days.  "David Holzman's Diary" was yesterday, and it was...interesting.  Yes, and we will leave it at that.  :)  "The Asphalt Jungle" was today, and I think I preferred it, being a film noir piece that was quite good, and, in all honesty...well, not too complex, plot-wise; I mean, I think a lot of people imagine "The Big Sleep" or any of those films, which have a lot of twists and turns; but "Asphalt Jungle" was fairly straight-forward; a heist goes wrong and everyone gets punished -- in one way or another.  The count is up to 224, FWIW (of 650) and I suspect that all this time watching movies is simply taking time from reading the many good books I have laying around now.  Alas.

Liberty

So, I cleaned the car a bit today; I ran a rag over the dash and the other surfaces.  Good Lord, I think I could gain a mile an hour in fuel efficiency.   I really need to do this sort of thing more often, obviously, and maybe even dust other rooms of the house more as well.  It is work and time...which I have not had much of lately.

I did have time to watch two more entries on the Film Registry..."Sweet Smell of Success," a 1957 film noir with Lancaster and Curtis (fairly good, actually) and "St. Louis Blues" (the 1929 version) starring Bessie Smith.  It was funny; the opening scene...I think I have seen the set -- hallway of apartment building, stairway up, etc., 50 times in a bunch of other films.  That film was interesting because of its all-black cast and it being the only known recording of her voice in a film.  I liked them both, so I could not complain.  Actually, I need to go back to my trend of watching a short a day, just to get some off the list (I do love progress, of any kind).

I didn't have Mom duty today; some of it is the fact that I have a ton of leftovers, some of it is the fact that her pinched nerve in her back is getting better only with rest, and some of it is the fact that we have been grating on each other, and she thought a bit of distance would work.  I hate to say it...but the thought crossed my mind, and while she is not right, nor is she wrong... I would prefer another solution, but this may work as well as any.

Break

Christmas, it seems, has disappeared from everywhere but the churches, not that I am surprised, but...  My Xmas was fine; got a lot of books for gifts, and considering how many I have to read to begin with (my library order was big)...oops.  Alas, alack.

In the meantime, I watched "Woman of the Year" last nite; sort of funny, a little dated, but also not; I think a lot of women would feel the same tug of professional and domestic responsibilities, and I suspect some men are as confused as Spencer Tracy was (It had Tracy and Hepburn, and they were a humorous pairing)....

My Mom released from the Sunday obligation of brunch and chores; this is largely good, given the immense quantity of food I have in the house, most of it full of sugar and carbs, which is not good.  I have been trying to be more active around here, even just by bouncing around and fidgeting, though it seems to be the deck chairs on the Titanic.  I feel better, at least.

Saturday without OC duty was nice; I mean I woke up as early, but did some chores, caught up on some mail...the things that adults usually do, instead of running around and helping ungrateful Hope and Changers...

twilight

Yesterday was Xmas for my father's side of the family...very nice, lots of fun, ate too much, the usual.  Rah.  I also realized that I have spent more than I budgeted for Xmas this year -- so next year I am really cutting back, like I say every year -- and that I should not have bombed the library for book requests, assuming I get some volumes this Xmas.  Oops.

You know, I don't the NYPD is totally correct in blaming the mayor for recent events, but to me, they should be blaming Sharpton and everyone else, as well; I don't think anyone is a fan of people getting killed over cigarettes, but the reaction has become more anti-police, and not everyone can be surprised that someone finally snapped (also, the idea of using Al Sharpton as the flogging Molly for all the world's ills can be supported by the facts).  One hopes this is the end of this, but we all suspect it is not

Am reading Twilight of the Belle Epoque.  Very interesting (it was reviewed in the WSJ) even if it just a year-by-year combination of biography/listing of important cultural and other events in Paris and its surroundings at the time. It is a slow go as it is in 8-pt font, but I prolly just take more than 15 minutes of reading at a sitting, too.

Duty

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-12-17/did-the-auto-industry-learn-anything-from-the-bailout

I get a kick out of these articles, because the purpose of the bailout was to preserve Democratic votes, not, of course, save the auto industry.  I realize this is a difficult concept, but...

OC duty today, and it was indeed again a zoo.  155, which is not a record, but damn near close.  Sort of funny; the line was really long at 11:30, and the other co-manager didn't think we would finish on time, but we shut the door at 12:30.  We gave a LOT of stuff away, in large part because the freezers are full and they would be refilled while we are closed next week...so there it was.  Stuff that hadn't moved in a while -- like blueberries and TV dinners -- were sent to hopefully good homes.  There was again mere chaos in the clothing room, where it was coat giveaways again...our clients seem to not grasp the concept of "one per family," which is crucial, as we only get about...one per family per load.  But, I am done for two weeks, where thanx to scheduling...it will be our turn again.  Rah.

Hope

I guess I am somewhat optimistic about the Tribe signing Gavin Floyd; I mean, not sure why I am down on Moss and up on him.  I suspect because he is somewhat far from the TJ surgery and that a bone break is clean...and may heal better; plus, not too much strain in the arm after surgery is prolly good.  Also, compared to what was spent on Capuano and Anderson, Floyd is a better deal.

In the meantime, I am watching Duke and UConn (go Duke, of course!) and catching up on the OC stuff; last weekend to be open, but a lot to do...

Unlike many GOPers, I am not sure that it is a bad thing that we are normalizing relations with Cuba; it is not incorrect to say that the policy has not worked well.  I suspect little normal can be done until the Castros are gone, so we should be working to bring about Communism's end there   To be sure, considering the litany of bad decisions the President has made, the issue, of course, how many more he will make on this one...

The Black Pirate

Crossed another movie off the list today; "The Black Pirate," a 1926 silent starring Douglas Fairbanks.  The version I had shipped in was a VHS copy, colorized, from a French copy dug up from God-knows-where.  The coloration was fairly decent, and while the film quality was a little choppy, it wasn't awful.  And I liked the thing; it was a little unrealistic and not very historical, but you could see how the Errol Flynn/swashbuckler films (which happened basically a decade later) were inspired.

I also finished The Acceptance World and will now be reading Bloody Roads South, which is about the Spotsylvania campaign.  I intend to wait a few days (but not many, I guess; Xmas is soon) to read this one before ordering the next installment of Powell and some films for the next few weeks.  It has been hard to find time to read, save for blocks I carved out, lately, and this will prolly continue until Xmas, given work/the OC/family duties.  Alas, alack; such is adulthood.

I still think the GOP committed an error by passing the spending bill now, instead of waiting until they had both houses of Congress.  I mean, I can see how a bit of "domestic tranquility" works but they also surrendered quite a bit of leverage -- about the immigration bit, and other things -- by not waiting.  Of course, maybe not everyone views this as an unending war...like some people around here.

Awakened

After a busy weekend, I report...OC duty again Saturday, and we were, to put it mildly, swamped.  148; not quite a record, but close; we opened early and had people until we shut it down at 12:30.  It was sort of funny; for a while, the volunteers were causing more trouble than the clients...  Our freezers were full of stuff, and then I had a visitor saying we needed to empty our freezers in the school cafeteria to make way for the turkeys for the Xmas dinner...so I said, fine, give more of the meats and such.  This, of course, caused someone to ask me if I was giving people too much stuff (yes, I know).  I was like...we don't have a choice, do we now? 

Anyways, that crisis was handled and then we had a mess in the clothing room and all of the winter coats came and not everyone knew about it and oi, oi, oi.  So I said push the clothes and we will handle the coats in the usual way (everyone gets a pass for one, which is not the best, of course)... and then we were out of rubber gloves, and then we were short of people to handle the computers, so I had to do it -- which is fine, sitting is nice -- but I do like to move a bit.  The net connection and one of the machines was a little touchy, but we survived, and by the end of the day -- we left at one -- there was some space in the freezers (which I do not expect to last) and stuff was ready for this week, which will also be shit-busy.  I was glad to go a party given by friends and Favorite Niece's 21st bday (for the family).

Sunday was more tame -- lots of chores for Mom, followed by the Johnny Football implosion -- and then I watched "Swing Time" on TCM; Astaire, Rogers, etc.  I rather liked it; sort of cute, sort of smart (a lot of films in the 30s are like that; I suspect the light comedies played well in the Depression) and I didn't realize that it was the source of the song "The Way You Look Tonight," which even I know is a classic.  And, another off the Film Registry.

I hate to say it, but after the weekend, a busy day of work was...well, not quite a Godsend, but a fairly nice change of pace.  I am not exactly expecting that this will last, but...

Alive

I do believe the theme of the week would be "burning the candle at both ends" which is why we are trying the Friday am post.  To review...Monday I watched "An Affair to Remember" (and did some social justice stuff); Tuesday was the office Xmas party, followed by some late nite SJ activity; Wednesday I went shopping, wrapped some presents, and took Mom to the casino for favorite niece's 21st bday; and yesterday I watched "The Shop Around the Corner" (cute) while working.  Oi.

But, we are alive, if not exactly thriving...but surviving.  I could use some sleep, but that will not happen for a few days.  The Winter Meetings fascinated me; the Chicago teams made all sorts of moves, the Red Sox "retooled" their rotation, heck, even the Tribe added a guy with a bad hip...yes, I am skeptical of the move, because once the hip goes....and I haven't seen anything to tell me otherwise.  Alas.

I am on to the third book in the Powell series, and while I would not say it is good, it is...decent.  I mean, it is moving springily, and at one point, I was fairly impressed with the author's ability to write about the interplay of two adulterous couples.  It was one of those things I had to read again, just to get the full feel of the text...

All out

I see the long state nightmare is over...I honestly don't see it, but...well, I suspect they got the matchups they wanted, if nothing else.  I was thinking about this last night while recovering from low blood sugar...the real way to go about this is to have a March Madness-style bracket, with every conference champion ranked and playing against each other.  To be sure, you'd have a lot of MAC and Sun Belt teams losing to Alabama by 70...but one of these days, of course, they won't, and that is when people would complain.  But on further review, the answer is...because the big schools and the power conferences make so much more money this way.  The NCAA gets the bulk of the value from the Tournament in hoops, but in football, it is the teams and the conferences where the dollars get made.  Thus, while an early exit from March Madness sucks...it is not a killer, whereas...the minute Alabama/OSU falls out of the CFB "playoff," there go the Benjamins, especially should a first round upset occur.

I watched three films on the National Film Registry this weekend.  First was "Anotnia:  A Portrait of the Woman," which concerned the life and story of one of the first female conductors.  Interesting.  Second was "Tootsie," which I had not seen before.  I sort of liked it; I mean, I expected some screwball comedy, but it was more than that.  Third was "Big Business," a Laurel and Hardy silent short, which was sort of amusing all things told.

Back

http://deadspin.com/uab-football-players-address-university-president-in-fi-1666027744/all

I think this is sad for the players and coaches and all, but...let's face it, for a school like UAB, they just lose money on football; sort of like MAC schools and a lot of other places not named the OSU.  That is an unpleasant fact, and the fact that they need to cut it...well, I am not unsympathetic to the finances, of course.

In the meantime...second at PQ last week.  Thursday was cookie baking with my Mom, and yesterday I watched the MAC Championship (which was played at a largely empty Ford Field, FWIW)...so no blogging, and also working longer and late, since I am something of a sadist.  Today was OC duty; 134, very steady crowd, seemed busier than it was; we didn't stop until after 2.5 hours of solid people. I was the runner, and while I got some exercise...at one point today I became cold and just couldn't warm up.  Odd.  Guess I am getting older.  In the meantime, I will be having a big salad for dinner (good for me, keeps the pounds off, etc.) and watching the slate of college football, even if I know I am just enabling another generation of damaged brains.

One thing I need to do is starting figuring the full slate of presents for the holidays...that means I have to do some shopping.  Oi.

Hits

In one of the unending amusing moments of life, I thought to myself...Gee, I haven't seen any flicks on the Film Registry.  Lo and behold, TCM had two of them on Sunday and Monday.  Sunday was "The Black Stallion," and honestly, I was skeptical, it being a kid flick and all...but it was quite good.  The cinematography was gorgeous (it reminded me of "Days of Heaven") and the story wasn't that kitschy.  It also involved horse-racing, which I like...but honestly, even my hardened heart was rooting for the kid.  Monday was "She Done Him Wrong," a 1933 movie starring Mae West.  It was based off one of her plays...and I could tell how 1) WWII lifejackets were called Mae West and 2) that censors went apeshit over the piece (which today would not even register on our conscience).  But it was funny; the plot twists, while expected, were handled well, and I could see how her work would be popular in 1933 to a nation in need of laughs...and other things.

I was sort of torn over the story about the OSU football player who killed himself.  On the one hand, it is a tragedy.  On the other...I don't know, it was sort of the same way I felt when reading And The Band Played On.  Yes, it was awful, but...you really can't expect some things to go on without...complications.  Similarly, do you really think that when a bunch of 300-lb, trained, muscular men run into each at full speed every day for the greater part of three months...that there won't be brain damage?