Spirit

Let's see...the week has went by fast...some of this was work. Wednesday Team XI went back to the Bottle House for PQ...this time, we won...thanx to a tiebreaker by yours truly in state capitals...it was pretty nerve-wracking, at least for me, given, of course, my...mentality.  Wins are wins, though.  Yesterday I had some stuff to do...today, I was off, as I had mandatory flex Friday time, and, well, the way things are going...I wanted to be off.

So, I went West -- we always passed Lyme Village and the Sorrowful Mother Shrine on the way to HU, so I hit them...the Shrine was quite nice; very peaceful, with about 40 or so different areas for reflection in front of various statuary.  I didn't see the Shrine itself, Mass was going on, but I guess I could always go back.  After a trip to see Favorite Niece and to pick up Swedish Fish Oreos at Kroger, I lunched and headed off to Lyme Village, a reconstructed view of frontier life...actually, seeing the buildings they moved/rebuilt was interesting, as it appears a lot of them were largely in situ.  The one mansion on the property was nice, too...again, I wouldn't mind going back again...

Roberto Perez went 4-5 today...this boosted his average to .146.  *sigh*

Drama

Well, that was an exciting Tribe game...I am still not sure if going to Clevenger was brilliant or insanity, though I am leaning to the former...they haven't seen him, he throws hard, and we do need to know if we can use him in October, if we make it..  To be sure, bases loaded against THAT hitter -- with a guy who has control problems -- had the makings of disaster...on the other hand, Terry can also say that we don't need that game, and, well, why burn out someone else?

In the meantime, Kluber had a good-but-not-great day, and who would think Jose Ramirez would be the hero again?  More seriously...this was a playoff matchup, and...all one-run games, two in the last AB...pretty cool.

After yesterday's fest, I vacuumed the carpet and did another room...I ma beginning to like the clean look, even if it only means I moved all the stuff on the floor to somewhere else or put it away.  I guess I could do the kitchen floor tomorrow, and I've been talking about reorganizing a closet for a while.

Crossed two more flicks off the list:  "Master Hands," a 1936 documentary showing how cars are made (artistically done) and "Killer of Sheep," a lost film of sorts showing African-American life in Watts...very European feel, so, as you can imagine, I couldn't wait for its conclusion.

Week and weak

It has been a long and interesting week...I don't recall what I did Monday or Tuesday...Wednesday I went to a place in Lakewood for a PQ with Team XI -- a mix of practice and socializing -- and we won, yea!  It was fun, that aside; funny questions, decent food, and the place specialized in mead and cider; I had an apple one that was a little tart, but not too bad.  Thursday I watched "Love Me Tonight" (450), which was a lovely Maurice Chevalier musical...so you can imagine my exact feelings.

Today I cleaned out my pantry; I noticed flour mites in and about, and decided it was high time to tackle it...as it turned out, I had a bunch of them in some pancake mix and pasta shoved to the back.  Not pleasant, not happy, mainly because I couldn't how dumb I was to let it happen in the first place.  Alas.  I threw out the bad stuff, applied hot water and hot water and vinegar, and then laid down some bay leaves.  I also flipped how and where I keep stuff in there...so ideally, this will solve it.

Three walk-offs in a row were NOT to be, alas.  That said, both games in the Toronto series have been quite good and solid affairs.  Tomlin, not so much...his last start wasn't that bad, but the rest have all been crap.  Not saying that he will be bounced, but Clevenger pitched fairly well in relief of Salazar (yes, he should have had a rehab start, duh), so you might see a six-man to "rest" the starters very soon.

Catchup

My weekend was...good.  Not restful -- indeed, sleeplessness was the main theme, but alas...I've decided that the summer romance is over, and prolly my fault...so roll up the map of Europe.  I went to a social gathering Friday, and it was funny...I made that decision, and then went and met all sorts of cool people, some of whom I might even hang out with again.  Maybe I was liberated, or maybe I just didn't care...

In the meantime, the Tribe kept up its streak of wins against crappy teams, so tomorrow's one-off against Boston will be an interesting thought experiment...I think Tomlin is going for us, so using the fifth starter will prove a sold excuse if it fails.

I had planned to watch "Malcolm X" today, but the discs were defective...alas.  After ordering replacements from the library, I watched a silent short, "Matrimony's Speed Limit," which was cute and funny and had the distinction of being directed by a woman (which was damned rate in 1914).  I didn't particularly see a female influence, but it was decent enough...449.

Early

I was able to dodge raindrops -- barely -- and get the weed-whacking done; ideally, the heat will offset the moisture and minimize lawn growth, but I doubt it.  Alas.  I have been leaving work at 5 every day, hitting the gym, and getting home by 6:30, followed by 800 things to do here...so tonight, ideally, I will get to bed at a decent hour, hell or high water.

Am reading Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain (on the fiction list) and I like it; not a lot, but enough.  It's not long, and Baldwin does write...well, so I think I can get through it and then on to something else; I've reverted to the old order of getting many books -- the literary version of Say's Law.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/08/can-collectors-california-recycling-centers-close

I get a kick out of these stories, mainly because it is shocking, shocking, that progressives would be so...unprogressive.  :)


http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-08-10/what-s-really-wrong-with-the-unemployment-rate
Interesting...

Wakies

http://gizmodo.com/we-were-wrong-about-how-ancient-humans-colonized-north-1785086135

This is pretty cool, but...I thought this wasn't exactly news; I mean, C-14 dating has revealed plenty of pre-Clovis artifacts and sites, and coastal archaeology has shown that there are campsites/habitation areas all over (many of which are now underwater).  There are still some people, I would suspect, who are bitter clingers as to the Clovis people being first, but...

Tomlin had a second straight bad start.  Ugh.  Could be a phase, or, well, that sixth starter might come in handy.  McAllister had a good outing -- curveball seemed to work some of the time, which for him is the key.  I don't quite share the optimism (and hopefully, no one in the dugout does, either) of Tom Hamilton that he will soon return to the mix of useful relievers, but being someone they could use on the dumpster fire starts would be nice.  Manship is supposedly ready to come back tomorrow; I wonder why they didn't get him a rehab start somewhere, just to make sure.  Getting him back (he would be the fifth reliever, with Miller and Otero surpassing him) would also be nice.  In the meantime, Crockett -- who was left in too long in his last outing -- will be the superfluous deck chair.  In all honesty, splitting with the Nationals was..well, the best that could be expected, given that they, too, are a good team.

Finished the Hapsburg book -- despite the title, the author's point seemed to be that the Empire wasn't exactly dying in 1914, or before...it may not have been the power it was previously, but the author made the point that -- until flamed by nationalism -- few if any wanted to see it broken apart, and that many people seemed to believe that they were all better together.  I've always felt that much of what happened later in the last century was due to the fact that there wasn't another European power to serve as a check/brake/modifying force on the others; the Kingdom of Yugoslavia didn't cut it, and I think people realized it from the start...

Up to 447 on the film list -- watched two good ones over the past days.  "House of Usher" (a retelling of the Poe story, starring Vincent Price) and the original "The Manchurian Candidate."  The first had, well, good acting and, I think, a good set; the second was fairly...well, taut, and I think it really played to the fears of the time of the Red Menace...

Passings

One point I was going to mention -- it's been going around -- was the spate of retirements around MLB...Tex and A-Rod, Lincecum getting waived...it IS a generation of players going off into the sunset (two for Tim)...these were the players I grew up with, so...it is a little nostalgic.  As for Lincecum (he helped me to win three straight strat-league championships)...you'd think he could transition to a relief role (he's had success there in the past).   I mean, Joe Blanton -- who didn't have quite the stuff or career -- is still kicking around for the Dodgers as a set-up guy; I'd like to think Tim could be that guy, or even, say, Scot Sullivan.

As for A-Rod...I'd like to think he will come back next year, but...his path to a job in Miami is blocked by Ichiro!, of all people.  I mean, given the seven-man bullpens, there just isn't much space for a PH anymore.  Ichiro!, at least, can sort of play the OF (at least the corners) and can run a bit, and seems to have accepted the role of 4th OF.  A-Rod can really only PH/DH now, and there are few teams who need one (Boston will next year!)...and if Ichiro stays, well, there goes THAT idea.  I think that A-Rod will come back to make 700, asterisks and all...the money is in the bank, and, well, maybe a restful and prolonged offseason will help.  Maybe.

Watched "Red Dust" yesterday on TCM...pre-Hays Code classic, and you could tell it right away...I liked it, not for the scandal, but because it was...well, fairly...tight in plot, and the acting was first rate.  445!

Progress

Most depressing weekend, Tribe-wise...I mean, if you can't take two of three from the rebuilding Yankees (it does give me pleasure to say that), well...it does not bode well for the playoffs.  Mind you, the division lead could disappear this week, with the games against Washington and Detroit.  Ugh.

In the meantime, I did spend some of the weekend watching films on the list.  "Love Finds Andy Hardy" was a representative of the genre...star-studded feel-good fare from the 30s, which I didn't exactly like, nor did I dislike.  I watched two documentaries:   "The Middleton Family at the World's Fair" and "Memphis Belle." The first was decent; sort of a propaganda-ish about the role of science and technology and good old Yankee capitalism.  The second was more up my alley; I also read about in Five Came Back, how Wyler came back with hearing damage while shooting action shots during combat.  I also watched the short/film noir piece "Meshes of the Afternoon," which was...interesting. For the record, we are now at 444...

Starts

http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/inside-ark-encounter-the-life-size-noahs-ark-theme-park/ar-BBvdylf?li=BBnbklE#page=1

I found this amusing...not sure if she was trying too hard to be sympathetic, or not enough...

http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-08-02/san-francisco-progressives-declare-war-on-affordable-housing

I've  been writing a lot about housing, because it is one of the easy things to solve, and, well, people tend to fuck it up....and of course San Francisco deserves all the mockery that can be mustered.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/08/04/study_shows_strip_clubs_don_t_bring_down_home_prices_in_seattle.html

This is good to know; of course, I am not sure I would want one in my neighborhood, in all honesty.

Watching Tribe and the Trump campaign slow burn...at least the Tribe can do something about it.  I thought that Clevinger had a quick hook -- not that he was pitching all that well, as the coworkers noted, but you can't expect the relief corps to pitch 6 innings for a week, no matter how much AAA machination you use,  I guess it wasn't the worst thing to try all the stops to win ONE game, but...this won't end well after a while.

Blow up

So, who's imploding faster, the Tribe or Donald Trump?  :P  I mean, the Tribe has a better shot of coming back...and I have an idea of what they are doing.  The Donald...oi.  More errors; it's an impressive shitshow, aided by the fact that this is a race the GOP could win.  Very saddening.

http://forums.talkingpointsmemo.com/t/who-really-runs-your-city-privatization-of-municipal-services-often-means-selling-off-democracy/40683

Thought this was interesting, but using Chicago as an example of a successful example of anything...yeah, surre.

In the meantime, I've added two more films to the list:  "King of Jazz," which I saw at the CIA, and "The Lost World."  "King of Jazz" was a musical revue from 1931, so you can see what I thought of that.  Also, I was in the distinct minority of heterosexual men in the audience.  "The Lost World" was a silent adaptation of the Doyle story; I liked it, and the animation -- early refinement of stop motion -- to create the dinosaurs (including fights) was pretty remarkable (given it was 1925).  I am up to 440, which makes me wonder if I can get to 500 by the end of the year.

Trades

Is it me, or did Francona leave Salazar in for WAY too long tonight? Not that it would have mattered, and it isn't like the pen pitched any better, but it was pretty obvious he didn't have it, and...off he went.  Hell, even the new guy served up a shot to Joe Mauer...yes. it's Joe Mauer, but...

As for the trades...it's a shame they couldn't solve the black hole of catching, but...I don't think the moves were awful.  Guyer was added for parts, pretty much, and he does fill a need -- I think he will ONLY play LF, but he can hit lefties, so they can spell Chisenhall AND Naquin as needed.  More importantly, Ramirez moves to 3B, an upgrade across the board (which was achieved by whacking Uribe; sad to see the guy go, but...).  The Miller move...well, they gave up quite a bit for him, but he will be around for a while, and he is...awesome.  (I did tell the coworkers that it meant he could be moved NEXT year when the Tribe sucks again; also, we solved the Shaw problem by moving him to the seventh, where he can blow games there.)  The heater is solid, and the slider (most nights) is pretty sharp, devastating against lefties and righties.  The club could use another starter, I think, but that's not happening.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/2016-democrats-doubt-trump-clinton-numbers-214129

I am still skeptical (the latest thing notwithstanding), but...as I told one of my coworkers...it would be funny as hell if Trump can win the Big Ten that so eluded Romney.  He wins PA, OH, IN, MI, IA, and Wisconsin...that's 80 votes.  He will get the South....Florida is an uphill climb, but I also note that there are a LOT of rich old white people there (his strength) so it might not be that much of one.  If he does, though, he wins... note that you lose a VA or CO if you win OH or PA.  I just wonder how many hold-their-nose GOPers that there are out there...