Tardiness

 I was out late Saturday and, in consequence, took a two-hour nap Sunday...woke up in time to see Charlie Montoya do his Eric Wedge impression. Fortunately, I was able to do all three of the cleaning tasks I set out for myself: the dining room table is empty and clean, the serving dish cabinet was cleaned and organized, and I went through the drawer with religious stuff/playing cards/exercise clothes.  While very Catholic, the cards have been moved to a new drawer, and the mess was sorted properly.  Anyways, I laid down on the floor to read about 8...and that's all I remember til I woke at 1:45 in the morning.  I then decided discretion was the better of valor, so I just laid down on the couch...and woke up at 9:45 this morning.

To be sure, this is not a bad thing, as I needed the rest, and it was an off day, but one, I had wanted to get to the gym early (I made it anyways) and two, we all know how I feel about sleeping in.  I was less tired than usual today, which is nice. I also finished the wood pile in the basement and cleaned the space beneath the steps.  I could have started to put it back together, but...enough is enough.  Not really.  Anyways, tomorrow I will hit the home improvement store to investigate concrete blocks and start puttng everything back together.

In the meantime, what has gotten into Tristan McKenzie?  Josh Naylor seems to be hitting quite a bit, Austin Hedges is not, and Karinchak has...well, I hope it is just regression to the mean; certainly homer-prone lately, which is bad for a guy entrusted to hold one-run leads. This string of ties in double-headers is a moral victory, I guess... one would like more wins, of course, bur we are also not going up against the Tigers again.

https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/john-cooper-skillet-critical-theory

Interesting...much to like here!

Wakey wakey

 So...I was supposed to get up at the crack of dawn and do all my errands and gym, then come home and handle stuff... but I decided to sleep in til 8, so now we will try the reverse -- catch up on the crap and then handle the affairs of the world.  Not sure I will have the time...I mean, one of the advantages of getting up at the crack of dawn is that you have more time to do stuff (and places are less crowded).  So we will see.  Extra rest is of course nice....

That was an interesting Tribe game...seeing it was in a rain delay in the 7th, I was like...now?  Hard to judge Morgan (funny, I had a fleeting thought of attending the game, an MLB debut...glad I didn't); his stuff didn't seem to be "put-away" type, but it was also his MLB debut and the weather...certainly, one could say that some of the issues with command and maybe the stuff could be attributed to that.  Would like to see how he pitches in more normal conditions, I guess.  One unintentional highlight of staying was the Tribe pre-game, where Austin Hedges -- of all people -- was talking about how he explains to young pitchers what major-league hitters can and can't do....watching Austin Hedges hit, I think the latter is more of an approach for him from the former...

In other news, I discovered a whole new woodpile in the basement...for some reason, they also disconnected the under-stairs shelving (why I do not know), so that has to be handled as well...oi.  I mean, I could leave it there, but then it is a pile of wood, and I want it gone, and I can use the space under the stairs for all the storage bins I want to buy. I was almost done with the rec room pile -- just have to move the remnants of the work bench (which I am trying to save) to get the last pieces there, and now it is...well, I think I can finish before my bday, but...at least I have been able to look through the stuff in the basement and mark some for pitching and donation, though 90% of the stuff, I suspect, I will keep...

Petty Annoyances

Good to see Shane Bieber pitch well today (yes, I know it was the Tigers, but still).  Similarly, what got into Tristan McKenzie? Five shutout innings, no "more woks than a Chinese restaurant?"  And it was good to see Quantrill get extended (3 IP counts for that nowadays) since I suspect we will be needing him to get more innings, one way or the other.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/texas-mask-mandate-no-effect/618942/

I don't know...poeple, for better or worse, are capable of measuring their own risk of the disease and are capable (mostly) of making their own decisions.  As time has gone on I have been more on the side of the "openers," given the economic losses and dislocations we have had in response. That said, nor am I one to judge those who do not want the vaccine -- even though I know this is now the main issue, getting enough people vaccinated so it doesn't  matter (as much).

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/time-for-democrats-to-address-their-anti-semitism-problem/ar-AAKoJql?li=BBnb7Kz

It's a feature, not a bug, of the modern Democratic party!  More seriously...if Dems have been able to attack every GOPer as a racist and rapist-enabler due to Trump....wny on Earth are we not doing the same to them?  Turnabout is fair play, and it might just win some votes...

Looking forward to the weekend, and if I can do even half of the things I have planned -- some cleaning, reorganizing, sawing, that sort of thing -- it will be a raging success.  I have not sawed anything today or yesterday (other things to do!) and I am somewhat behind, though I could trek down there now....

Woke up late Wednesday --- grr -- and thus skipped the gym double.  Worked out hard both days but tomorrow I am doing a double even if it kills me.  I just feel the fatness, and I need to cut at least 5 pounds out of me ASAP...

Linkage

I've been noticing an uptick in those things from the local realtors offering to sell your house.  This is fine. I guess, but the problem then would be finding another one; this is a great seller's market, but unless you have one in the bag...well, that is a problem. Yes, I could move to the hovel and post a tidy profit, but that would also pose a host of other problems, and I do sort of like my house, for all its foibles (right now sawdust plays an inordinate role in the list).

The Zach Plesac news (maybe he should get the Dr. appellation) amuses and depresses me... the rotation is down to scraps, although tonite's strategery of riding Civale as long as possible would hold promise for the resr of the staff, in that getting an extra inning or so a start would...save wear and tear on them.  Honestly. nor do I think it would hurt the starters; practice pitch economy early, for one, and force guys to develop more pitches.  Crazy talk in that it might just work...

https://www.insidehook.com/article/vehicles/ford-f150-lightning-winning-ev-truck-war

Interesting.  Would I get one?  I don't know...so mucn about it is new, but if it saved money in the long run, it would be something to consider.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/25/trump-is-starting-to-put-together-his-own-contract-with-america-and-hes-teaming-up-with-newt-490829

Hmmm...I am not quite sure that "we're getting the band together again" is quite the strategy nowadays, and I certainly don't think that President Awesome has the necessary discipline to carry this out, but....

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/25/rick-santorum-cnn-donald-trump-490813

Do they really think they actually want one?  I certainly do ntooo

Achievement

 Hit the Tribe game Sunday... which was fun, aside from the loss.  More seriously, it WAS good to be back at the ballpark, even if I have the sunburn to prove it.  Yes, I am an adult, but I completely forgot about the concept of being outside for 4 hours.  Alas. Tonight's game was certainly exciting...too much so.  Given the struggles of the top men in the 'pen, who would have thought that Bryan Shaw would be the most reliable at this point in the season?  As for the offsense....well, it has scored 5, 5, and 6 runs the last three games...which is also surprising, if completely overlooked.

Today (Monday, I guess the day has passed) I took off and slept in (til 9), which was nice, given my general sleep habits.  I was able to put a double duty day at the gym, met a friend for lunch at Ohio City Burrito (it was fine, but Ohio City is sort of a parking-less craphole), did some reading, and did some work on the woodpile in the basement (not really enough, of course).  It was restful and productive enough, I guess; I mean, I did enough of the chores I was supposed to do to set myself up for the rest of the week, which works for me.

Watched "Bang the Drum Slowly" today.  Interesting film.  Baseball movie but not really; more a film about coming to grips with death (prematurely), both for the dying and those around them.  I liked the movie; certainly not a film to watch in a lighter mood but it was uplifting in its own way and right...

Progress of a Sort

 Remember when the Twins were the worst team in baseball and we had all that good young pitching?  Yeah, neither do I.  :)  Ok, while it was good to see Triston McKenzie's perpetual audition for the bullpen take a turn for the better (the Columbus bullpen), all else... oi.  Mejia pitched pretty well, in all honesty, and as we now need another starter, they just might have found one.  Imagine that. 

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/the-future-could-actually-be-bright-for-republicans.html

I think this is largely true?  I mean, we could still fuck it up, but most of what is presented here makes sense, and this doesn't even account for, say, the GOP actually making some policies. Again, policy is often made in opposition, and the leftward turn of Joe Biden has certainly given us plenty of opportunities.

One of things I took from Mom's was her collection of garments for the Infant Jesus of Prague statue; this is fine, but I have no place of my own put them, and if anything, it reminds me to take some time -- maybe on an upcoming off day -- to rearrange my drawers and shelves, put some stuff away, and organize, if not Marie Kondo, some things.  At the very least, my religious stuff needs to be organized and displayed, or at least treated with actual reverence for a change.  

Speaking of...the Diocese lifted all the restrictions on Mass attendance -- though if you are uncomfortable you can still skip... I wonder how many more people will attend; I suspect not many.  I mean, if you are comfortable now, you're already going, and if you still feel awry, you won't.  Might be a helpful nudge to some, but...

Wakey wakey

 So....had a fun night; met my friend Kim (from college) and her daughters at Geraci's in Pepper Pike. It was good - baked lasagna for me -- and it was good to see the children again.  The only problem, of course, was my blood sugar surged... which I solved by insulin and then leg day at the gym.  I thought I had hit the sweet spot, but obviously not, as I am not awaiting the return of blood sugar from low to a normal level. Oi.

https://lawliberty.org/taking-ownership-of-congressional-leadership/

Interesting.  Certainly hadn't thought of this in this way...

https://www.vox.com/2021/5/18/22440256/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-edwards-vannoy-abortion-criminal-justice-constitution-stare-decisis

I get a kick out of these things; I mean, if the law was decided wrongly, then don't we have a moral and legal responsibility to make it correct?  Certainly, a progressive would argue that that is so, and I fail to see why when conservatives do it it is a constitutional crisis, aside from the fact that they don't like the results.  Slavery was a settled result, and here I am, cutting my own grass,as I like to say.

I have to admit, the spot of house-cleaning I did a couple of days ago has made the place look and seem nicer; I should prolly return to the kitchen and do some rearranging to make it even better, come to think of it.  I de-cluttered some stuff in the bedroom, too, which made the floor seem bigger, imagine that. No wood-chopping today, which is seeming like an endless project, even if I know there is progress, ever so slight.

For the record, I think Buzzy Cohen is doing a fine job as host of the TOC, and I think actually that having former contestants is the best way to go going forward.  Much as we love certainty... well, those guys certainly have the cred, if you will, to pull it off.

Feeling Low

 Nothing like waking up (after crashing, sort of) with an attack of low blood sugar (to say nothing of my sleep issues).  Anyways, may as well blog...  I was engrossed by the Tribe; kudos for Naylor in homering off a lefty, and one who has a sidearm delivery, to boot. Odd decision by Francona to stick with Pleasac.... ok; he was trying to get some innings out of the starter after 6.1 IP from the pen yesterday.  That I get, and with Bieber not going 5 the day before...but, Plesac had been cruising for a bit until he wasn't.  At least the new and improved Bryan Shaw held them in the 8th; I realize he is not the old one, but I still get pangs of anxiety....

Bill Whitaker was...decent as a J! host.  Aside from the comedy of a "60 Minutes" host proclaiming anything about journalism integrity and ethics, I thought he was...fine? Competent?  Seemed to be excited to be on the show?  In the meantime, it's the Tournament of Champions!  Harder questions, for one, and of course, the excitement of moving on.  Having been there...let's just say that one is quite conscious of the "survive and advance" mentality; yes, it's not like March Madness in that you don't have to win to move on, but, I would argue the games are more a battle of top seeds (unless you are the Big Ten), than the usual David beats Goliath affair.

Monday I took one of the 29 days of vacation and had errands day; funny, I ended up sleeping in (prolly needed to) and then felt ashamed by my lack of discipline.  But then it was off to the gym, library, grocery store, hardware store, lab for bloodwork, two bank... and then to Mitchell's for some ice cream (low blood sugar, I treated myself, sue me)...and it was an eight-hour day, just about.  I also cleaned the bathroom and swept all the floors.  This was on top of two hours plus of wood sawing in the basement and a short hour today...  such domesticity.

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-reports-zero-deaths-3-months-after-biden-called-its-reopening-plan-neanderthal-thinking-1591956

Imagine that....

Labors

 So, I had a sort-of interesting morning.  All was fine, until I realized I had locked myself out of the house -- my keys were in the door on the inside, and I closed it while getting my stuff ready for church.  Ok...so, I texted my sister to ask her to meet me at the hovel with her set of my house keys, and then off to church. While I was making my Communion rounds, I heard a clinking sound.  First I thought it was my watch on the ciborium, but no, the sound was lower.. I guess I didn't pry as deeply into my pockets as I should have, and there were the keys.  My very own Ascension miracle!

In other news, I finally manned up and cut some of the wood pile in the basement.  I was at for nearly three hours, and one of the piles is almost gone.  Translation:  it's a lot of work. Got better as I went on; the circular saw really isn;t working, so the wood/concrete one is doing the trick.  I have to clamp down every sheet before cutting (which takes time) and the pieces have to be small for the garbage collection (which also takes time).  But I have a general idea what to do, and a basic plan -- smaller sticks first, then the intact shelf frame, then the rest.  Ideally I would like to re-create the bench in the shop that was there (didn't realize it could be taken apart) and then in theory I can start putting humpty dumpty back together. An hour (or more) a day for a while is the general plan.

Speaking of Humpty Dumpty, there goes the Tribe, losing three in a row to the not-so-good Mariners, especially troubling because two of the losses were against the top of the staff.  (Left unsaid is the perpetual Tristan McKenzie audition for the bullpen.)  At least the offense is sort-of, slowly, startimg to come along, though obviously not enough.

https://www.outkick.com/oklahoma-governor-fires-back-grills-meat-under-peta-billboard/

This is hilarious!

Links

 https://www.wired.com/story/the-teeny-tiny-scientific-screwup-that-helped-covid-kill/

One thing I always get a kick out of is people saying "Trust the science." There are two problems with this. One, of course, is that people generally do so ony so far as it follows their own personal prejudices and foibles.  Fine, I guess; we expect that.  Two, though, is more serious... what if the science was wrong?  Much as I like to remind people that the guy who popularized the lobotomy won a Nobel Prize... the fact of the matter is science is wrong all the time. Not even like big stuff, like, say, eugenics, but even dietary science, people are always changing things around; I can only imagine what dieticians will say in 20 years. Anyways, one reads articles like that of the above -- where "science" had it right and was ignored -- and you can see how people just say the hell with it.

https://americanconsequences.com/electric-vehicles-john-phillips/

Similarly, I like to mock the green types...now again, I am a bit more sympathetic to their claims than I let on, but, as the article implies, even those products aren't exactly green either.  Or, as I used to say back when we went to the office, it's not my truck and 50 bikes out there...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/ohio-georgia-join-growing-list-gop-led-states-opting-out-n1267287

I get a kick out of this, mainly because we won't have an economic recovery and "normal" until people get back to work.  I don;t blame people for not wanting to do so, because let's face it work sort of sucks (on the level that it deprives you of the time you could use to do other things), but everyone has to do it (so you have the cash to do other things you enjoy in the remaining time).  So, yeah, at the end of the day, the carrot has to be replaced by the stick...

The Taste of Victory

Had a looong day, so I decided to burn up a Panera gift card (the turkey chili in the sourdough bread bowl was good, albeit pricey).  It was fine, but what surprised me was that they are now offering pizza.  I don't know; I like the place, but it's not the first choice I would go to for pizza, right?  Sort of like their mac and cheese (not that I would ever choose that)...not my first choice.  I did drink plenty of diet pop, FWIW.

I HATE when the announcers talk about no-hitters during games, especially when OUR pitchers are throwing them.  Oi.  I realize we are shedding baseball traditions with reckless abandon nowadays, but...

I've been amused by the spate of recent articles about GOPers leaving the party and forming a new one.  I think this is unlikely for three reasons.  One, most of the names are not exactly famous, or, more accurately, they are not famous now.  This is not a bad thing, just that a lot of these people were names (and not exactly big ones) a generation ago.  Two, it seems they are the only people involved in this.  Certainly, the mass of the party is NOT with them; I think Trump won more than 90% of the GOP vote in 2020, and I don't think he has suffered in popularity since then. Whether or not this is bad, I can't say, but I do not believe that Trump is losing his hold on the GOP electorate; if anything, as I have said before, the GOP electorate has divorced much of its leadership.

However, the main reason -- I believe -- that this is going to fail is that... well, Trump won in 2016 and, had it not been for the global pandemic, I say, would have won in 2020.  Not because of himself, but because of the strength of the economy, of which he could claim (legitimately) the credit. Much like in 1996, the President was a scumbag, but things were going well, and the opposition was running the Ghost of Christmas Past, so...  I mean, the party gave us Romney in 2012, whereas the grass roots gave us the Tea Party (and the House) in 2010 and pushed us this close to retaking the House in 2020. People like to be on the winning team, and Trump -- of all people -- was able to provide that.  I think a LOT of GOPers outside of the Beltway have come to the conclusion that the same message, packaged a bit differently, will work in 2024.

https://theamericanscholar.org/obscura-no-more/

Interesting read; not exactly a fan, but I think they are correct -- it is an art form, and certainly underappreciated as one, especially in this country.

Overuse

 This could be me, but I think Francona made an error in sending Bieber out for the 7th yesterday, compounded by his then throwing 120 pitches total.  He...struggled, if you will, all game -- runners on in every inning but the first, lots of hits, etc.  Wasn't like that game against the White Sox where he cruised.  Yes, he had an extra day off, but so did the pen, and in a 3-2 game...well, you were either going to see Karinchak or Wittgren anyways.  I am all for extending guys and am somewhat dismssive of pitch counts (to an extent) but I think six and done was the proper call yesterday.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/10/the-people-who-want-to-keep-masking-its-like-an-invisibility-cloak?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&__twitter_impression=true

The Atlantic had a piece about full-time maskers as well...I guess I find it fascinating that both of these sources are to the left...and they are not exactly touting these choices. Interesting...some sign of sanity on their side?  

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-secret-papers-of-lee-atwater-who-invented-the-scurrilous-tactics-that-trump-normalized?mbid=social_twitter&utm_brand=tny&utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

This I would like to read!  I always liked the guy -- onw of the first to view this as war, and act accordingly; I've always wondered what would have happened in 1992 if he had lived...

Surprises and the lack thereof

 Took today off; had a busy weekend, and I have the vacation days, so I slept in, did leg day at the gym, and attended to the many various chores and emails and links as best as I could.  On the one hand I didn't do all that much, but on the other I did do a lot of the little things that didn't necessarily need to get done, but it is always good to do so.  The email box is slightly more empty, the list of links somewhat curtailed.  All to the good!

Last week, as we know, I hit Mason's Creamery.  It was pretty good!  The ice cream was quite rich, and they had a choice of whipped creams...I took peanut butter, but when I return, will try the marzipan. They don't have a lot of ice cream flavors, but the selection was good enoug

Watched "The Man With the Golden Arm" today (755 on the NFR). It was...ok?  I liked it, sort of; I guess I have very little sympathy for those who use and abuse illegal narcotics, but I also know the movie's subject was highly controversial for its time, so I can see its inclusion.

https://thecritic.co.uk/what-can-never-trump-learn-from-the-19th-centurys-free-soilers/

Interesting take; I predict that even if there is a small migraton to the Dems, it will still be powerless.  Caesar, I believe, said that he loved treason but hated the traitor, so there is that.  Also... given the more ideologically extreme positions each side is taking, I find it hard to believe that even the most milquetoast of GOPers will find anything on the Dem to agree about, at least in terms of policy.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/catholic-schools-are-losing-students-at-record-rates-and-hundreds-are-closing-11620651600?mod=hp_listc_pos4

I am shocked, shocked, by this.  More seriously...I have said many a time that the biggest problem with Catholic education is not its expense but that we spend so much on educating non-Catholics for absolutely no return on the investment, and this is the result. The students and the parents are not in the pews on Sunday, they are only around in the parish for the duration of the schooling (if then), and the actual Catholics in the pews are called upon to do more for less.  It is not sustainable now, and the only reason it worked before because parishes had so many people and envelopes coming in that you could delay the paying of the piper...even if a whole orchestra was being subsidized.

The Silence of the Bats

 So, before yesterday, I was going to post about how well the Tribe was doing -- a four-game sweep is a four game sweep, Tristan McKenzie pitched well (for him), yadda yadda... but today, no.  Rather, the team goes out and gets no-hit again (twice in a month, mind you), wasting a fine performance from Zach Plesac.  Oi.  I did like how Francona said he would have liked to have seen them make some adjustments.  Well, so would a lot of other people.  Oi.

https://policydialogue.org/opinions/worker-shortages/

I note this because yesterday the jobs report came out, poorly, and of course everyone exploded. On the other hand, last month's report was pretty good.  So it could be variation.  Certainly, help wanted signs are ubiquitous right now, and I think the author is correct that, yes, most of the jobs aren;t paying enough.  But...one, all this free money floating around is discouraging labor, and two...prices are going up (gas is almost $3 a gallon, milk is high, meat is worse, not that I buy much of it) and I think that inflation is a real fear now.  This is a problem, especially for the poor, because wages never go up as fast as prices.  I am bemused by this -- Mencken would say you voted for it, now you are getting it good and hard -- but it is a problem...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/tawny-kitaen-dead-whitesnake-video-bachelor-party-1234969193/

Remember when she was married to Chuck Finley of the Tribe?  I always thought it was... an interesting relationship, and we will leave it at that.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-we-need-to-keep-searching-for-lost-silent-films?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Yes!

Catching Up

 Here I am, blogging again....busy weekend, sort of, and then Sunday night I watched the new season of Bar Rescue (Mom and I loved to discuss it, alas) and then last night -- in addition to the Tribe -- I rewatched "Downton Abbey" (the movie) because, well...not that I am down, but I am just...meh.  Not sure why; some of it is the tiredness, some of it is stress, some of it is work, and some of it is... who knows.

I have been impressed, sort of, by the Tribe.  Winning two of three in Chicago was nice, especially with the continuing McKenzie bullpen audition.  Luplow's injury has hurt, but...well, Harold Ramirez has impressed; the D is ok and his ABs are looking good.  Naylor has been better at the plate; at least he seems to be having better ABs.  I did feel sorry, somewhat, for Daniel Johnson; the platinum sombrero, I think, will dim the ardor of his tweetery.  And now, they have taken two from the Royals; not that I think they are that good, but they are now. Scoring late has been the key here, which is good to see...

I have been bemused by the Liz Cheney situation; I mean, part of me still says she is Dead Man Walking, and maybe she is, but... I read on Politico that there are 23 people in that primary.  Twenty-three!  I can see someone slipping with 35% or so, which would probably guarantee her safety.  But what is her end game?  I don't know... I mean, the Senate?  Higher office?  I mean, posterity is nice but it seldom pays the bills.

Polished a couple of books off this past week, including this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Damning-Words-Religious-Mencken-Biography/dp/0802873448

Which, surprisingly, I liked.  In some ways I am like Mencken; the cynicism, the love of reading, the hatred of hypocrisy... not so much the love of music, hit or miss on the literature. When it comes to women I am more the W.C. Fields type...

Malingering

 It's May and the furnace is on.  As always, behold the power of global warming...

I crashed hard last night -- I think I nodded off after the Tribe game but this time I woke up on the floor at 12:30 and decided to brush my teeth and sleep in a real bed.  Then, of course, I decided to sleep past the alarm, so instead of waking up at 6:30 and hitting the gym for 8...well, I woke up and 7:15 and here we are.  To be sure, not like I have anywhere to be for a while, and I do need the rest.  Things have been stressful, and in consequence I am spending more time at work, then trying to do the shit I normally do...and that means less sleep. Nor have I began on the woodpile in the basement or the other chores that I should be doing.  Oi.

Notice again the Clase picked up the save...remember at the beginning of the year when they said they would rotate guys???  To be sure, I don't have a problem with this; Karinchak has been most impressive in the 8th, Clase has been fine in the 9th.  Karinchak can recall to mind Mitch Williams at times, not the best trait in a closer, and they might figure Clase can control his pitches better; also, the power sinker can draw more swings and misses when it is not a strike... Another reason...remember when we traded for Justin Masterson and made him a starter?  He was ok at it -- one good year, maybe two -- but his delivery meant that lefties could really tee off on him. I wondered then that the Tribe made him a starter so they could say they weren't fleeced in the deal, and I wonder if the same dynamic is in play here; we traded a starter and got a closer, and while it is not an exact value, if Kluber is....on the downside of his career and we have peak-Clase, well...they are trading geniuses.

Watched the new "Midway" last night, and it was...ok?  I think I preferred the original, which had a bit more story and plot, whereas the new version has all of that nifty special effects.  I think it included WAY too much -- pre-WW2, Pearl Harbor (the original took care of that in a separate movie!), love stories... not that I didn't enjoy it, and I did like some aspects of it (including Japanese war crimes, for instance)