(in the dark) the shine of small things

+ The title of the last Harry Potter book is just so very...what? I can't stop laughing. (thanks to [Bad username or site: tinkelo / @ livejournal.com] for the heads up).

+ God, this column tickles all my Zito buttons: Zito's slip is showing. The New York media, doing their part to make sure Barry knows he's not as eminently shaggable as he thinks he is.

December 20, 2006 -- There is doubt steeped all over Barry Zito's situation. Primarily, it is doubt about whether he would take less money in New York or more money in Texas.

But there also is doubt about the pitcher himself: Whether he's already slipping, whether he's worth a six-year contract and whether the Mets would be making the right move in signing him.

As Met officials huddled with Zito and agent Scott Boras yesterday in greater Los Angeles, baseball sources were finishing a portrait of Zito, a 2002 Cy Young Award winner, as anything but a sure thing.

"I don't know if he cuts it in New York," one insider who knows Zito flatly told The Post.

lololololz. Oh, Mychael Urban. Please keep feeding quotes to the NY rags.

.... "I think he's slipped," one major-league scout told The Post. "The last two times I've seen him the last couple years, he wasn't on at all. He struggled getting his breaking ball over for strikes, and when he does that, he's in trouble. He can't get by on a power arm."

The scout allowed that Zito might not be slipping, per se, but at the very least he's getting by with less exertion, getting by because he knows how to pitch. And that could be the cumulative effect of his workload.

Ah. Fun times. Since Barry doesn't read the papers, hopefully Danny called him up and read the choice bits into his voice mail. Thanks [Bad username or site: phantom_hpuff / @ livejournal.com], I so needed that.

+ I came home to 4 holiday cards, though I didn't respond to a single "give me your addy if you want a card" post I've seen to date. My f-list is kinda awesome ^_^

So I get the sense that the people who are head over heels for Studio 60 are mostly people who didn't do Sorkin shows before. And those who have been around and done the Sports Night/TWW dance with Aaron are more generally like **shrug** "It's alright" about it. Yes? No?

I'm glad for the playoffs putting Fox shows on mini-hiatus since I'm already behind on Prison Break by four eps >.> Hopefully I can marathon over our Fall Break in a couple weeks.

On ze topic of playoffs: Game 1 between the A's and Twins was pretty awesome. Except for the part where I was like please don't bring in street please don't bring in street please don't bring in street and then they brought in Street. But all's well that ends well. Got to watch half of the Oakland game (and man, Oakland fans, I apologize on behalf of my entire coast. It's patently ridiculous that the A's got saddled with consecutive 1pm EST start times), and then "watched" the rest of it on Gamecast while in Employee Benefits. Seriously don't know where I'd be without wireless in our classrooms. (Well, I'd probably be in a place where I have a better GPA. But let's not dwell). Game 1 between the Yanks and Tigers? Not so awesome. Had the game on but I barely watched. Tonight's matchup is more my speed - Verlander v. Mussina. Should be fun times.

Zito's blogging like they just discovered the technology, which amuses me. Jokes aside, I thought it was pretty cool of him to get a post-game entry up so quickly (likewise Nate Robertson, wow). Clearly enjoys listening to himself talk, as it were, but he quotes For Love of the Game which is one of the most underrated baseball flicks ever (YES, DEREK. IT'S A BASEBALL MOVIE. SHUT UP) so, bonus points. Not enough to make up for certain things, but one step at a time. Also, two posts in a row without a single mention of Dan Haren. Aww. Sorry, D. Guess that mancrush only operates one way :(

And I really need to MOVE ON, but you know, I can't, because of stuff like:

[W]hen the ax finally fell on Marlins manager Joe Girardi, his players were disappointed, if not stunned, calling each other on their cellphones to commiserate. ...Girardi helped players with their personal problems, guiding them as a father - or at least a cool older brother.

"He was everything - a manager, a friend, a teacher," Johnson said. - Marlins players feel they have lost a friend.

Yeah, I cannot express to you how irritated I am that the Marlins organization couldn't fucking WAIT to introduce Gonzalez. Like. I really want to not hate the guy just because he's replacing Joe, but they're not making it easy. Could they have been any more fucking insensitive about that shit? Would it have killed them to wait one day? To have so obviously had his replacement waiting in the wings, the decision made long ago...I just....So. Much. Hate.

eta: A's postgame conference.

I failed to mention the Cardinals in this post, so I'd like to acknowledge that the Cardinals - ugly/practically already eliminated stepchild that they supposedly are - also won Game 1. Gotta figure though that Game 1 was the game they were supposed to win - sorta like everyone was saying with Minnesota. But you gotta love how the Cards win one game and suddenly all the talking heads are taking back everything they said about St.Louis on Sunday.

Does anyone feel bad for the Mets? Even a little? I confess; if John Maine gets the emergency start I want him to do well, but that's pretty much the extent of it. Sucks to be them.

I was talking to [Bad username or site: offspeed / @ livejournal.com] about writing, and writer's block...that is to say, she was telling me about her experience, and I was reminded of this terrific quote I read. I thought it nailed it perfectly, painted such a picture of what it's like to be stuck. Since I was typing it up for Alex anyway, I figured I would paste it here as well.

( Joseph Conrad on the horror of writer's block )

I never said but I finished Children of Men fairly quickly. I can tell from the movie's trailer that many of the details of the book have been changed. I think that's smart - the book as written would make for a bit of a lame film. It looks like, with the exception of a few particulars, they've just taken their inspiration from the basic premise of the book and worked from there. As such, I'm glad I got to read the book and remain fairly unspoiled for the movie.

Other belated things: I was really, really happy 24 and The Office were recognized as best drama and best comedy! (At the Emmys. Weeks ago. Just go with it.) I was surprisingly miffed that Gregory Itzin did not win for his portrayal of President Logan. I didn't think I really cared, but I was disappointed when his name was not called. God, I hated that bastard. Well done, Greg.

I feel guilty. All this hullabaloo over Mulder's surgery and Liriano missing time reminds me that Marlins class clown Logan Kensing had Tommy John surgery on August 31 and I haven't said a word. Pyro's expected to miss much, if not all of the 2007 season, so I send positive thoughts for an untroubled recovery his way. Of course, I figure if he can survive setting his arm on fire and come back to pitch, TJ surgery won't keep him down.

Alex Rodriguez should send Carl Pavano a bottle of wine. Thanks for getting everyone off my ass, Ace.

No one in Florida knows who the Marlins are, lol. Not really a surprise, given that 6,000 people show up to a game on the regular. And they're right, most of them are not terribly memorable. There's something rather average joe about all of them, except for the fact that some of them are wicked tall. I imagine I would recognize half the roster in street clothes, but that might be wishful on my part.

Gateway says they "forgot" to do the hinge repair and I should send the old laptop back to them. Which I will, because I'm not using it now anyway. My dad knows a guy who might be able to fix the keyboard. And if it all works out, it would be good to have a back-up laptop around, just in cases. But knowing Gateway they're probably likely to take a hammer to the LCD display and send it back to me. I never learn.

One of two things needs to happen today - the Phillies need to LOSE or the Mets need to WIN. Because if neither of those things happens, the Mets keep their magic number at 1, and go home to play the Fish. I would prefer that the Fish in general, and Jake in particular, not have to watch the Mets celebrate. So. Someone get on that. And speaking of the series against the Mets, JJ's going to miss at least one start. I think I can effectively stop smoking the crack that had me hoping JJ was still in the running for the NL Cy. He's dropped from best ERA in the majors to fifth best, and now he's possibly done for the year. Oh, JJ. You're still the number one Mormon in my heart.

Harden's penciled in to start Thursday, which means Zito's last regular season home start will be Friday. (Which feels funny to say. I knew the end of the baseball season was near, but I didn't realize it was THAT near til I was looking at the schedule.) I was sad for Bri; so close, only to be thwarted in her effort to see Rich pitch. Condemned to live her life feeling like a shallow whore. ALAS. But I'm glad for the bump; a mid-day start with no television coverage hardly seemed an appropriate thanks for the memories should the A's collapse in spectacular fashion in the last week. (HEAVEN FORFEND. I'm just saying.) But I worry Z'll be all adrenaline, too pumped to perform well and end up getting rocked again, a la Opening Day. Ah well, hopefully it'll be a gem of a start, and if he doesn't pitch well, I'll cross my fingers for at least one home postseason start. [Bad username or site: rickenbacker / @ livejournal.com] will be there Friday; funny how things work out. I'm freaking jellus she'll get to do the ZI-TO! chant. I have a thing about chants.

Last night, I was awake for HOURS and there was no Baseball Tonight. In fact, I'm fairly sure I watched a college football wrap up show, followed by...another college football wrap up show. Wtff? Unacceptable. Also, I'm pretty sure there doesn't need to be college football on ESPN and ESPN 2 at the same time. 20 minutes of highlights, that's all I'm asking for. Christ on a riverboat. There needs to be a baseball network, like there's that NFL network, and the golf network. Let's go, People with Money to Burn.

[Poll #766713]

Bri, did you record the Derby? MLB.com doesn't have it archived, and Ang missed the shot of Dazed&Confused!Grady ^_~

Because, because: mlb.com's clippage of guys watching their teammates in the derby.

Uggla watches Cabrera. And there's Danny's brother! Aww. (asf) // (wmv)
Jose watches David. (wmv) // (asf)
Utley watches Ryan. (wmv) // (asf)

I liked it better last year, when they didn't have the cameras right in the guy's face, but still cute.

J'adore Dan Uggla. Reason 119. Reason 119a. DOOFUS. Reason 120: He bought a video camera for the All Star Game festivities, and then returned it because he heard Wilson Sporting Goods would give him a free one. "I'm still cheap, man," he said with a laugh. Man after my own heart.

23 first time All Stars on the NL and AL rosters. And they're just so adorable about the whole experience.

Richard Justice explains why Garner's in the right for not pulling an Ozzie. Random line that caught my eye though: If someone this smart can't get Brad Lidge fixed, then Brad Lidge probably can't be fixed. Oh, Richard Justice. That's not necessary! Oh, and Roy O on his frustrating first half.

Dear God, Barry Zito looks godawful in the AL jersey. Granted, I think most everyone looked hideous, because both the NL and AL jerseys are a special kind of ew, but Barry looked especially awful. Also, he needs a haircut. (And so begins the era of Barry Zito Can't Do Anything Right and I Already Hate Him.)

Greeny was just telling this story about being on an elevator with Phil Garner and Ozzie Guillen yesterday, and Ozzie was talking to him a million miles a minute in Spanish in one ear, and Phil Garner, with his slow drawl, was trying to introduce Greeny to his wife at the same time. Greeny's Phil Garner impression is hiiii-larious.

[Bad username or site: oakchick75 / @ livejournal.com] found it, I just ripped it:
+ Huston & Chavvy on BDSSP - 02/09/2006 (29mbs): (wmv) // (asf)

It's very sweet, I think, how Chavvy keeps clapping Huston on the shoulder as the BDSSP guys give him a hard time about everything under the sun. Obviously, I appreciated the little pelvic lift as he tried to pry his pick out of his pocket :P Next time, try the jeans a size bigger, duckie. Or, you know, DON'T. And, okay, the "oh, jesus" was kind of adorable.

And some other stuff that's been sitting around for awhile:
+ local tv with David Wright at his Foundation's golf event (8mbs): (wmv) // (asf)
+ Mulder talks about his parents, and his recent struggles - 6/17/06 (24mbs): (wmv) // (asf)

Listen to him talk about his struggles in past tense. And listen to him insist there's nothing physically wrong with him. **pets him**

Marlins' success comes with a belt. So the first line of this story mentioned Randy Messenger and a belt, and I was like wow, I SO DON'T WANT TO KNOW. But Leanne encouraged me to read it, so I did. I'm amused by the fact that Messenger calls Scott "Olie". My favorite part:

So why did it happen? Neither pitcher will say. But that could change.

"If we win the World Series, you have my word," Olsen says. "I will tell you what it was about."

**laughs** Clearly, Messenger punched him in the eye for being SUCH A TEASE.

If you've heard it, do you like the new Dashy cd? After one listen, so far only the title track and So Long, So Long (the duet with Adam Duritz) really clicked for me. It's got the same failing, to my ears, as the last cd - too much in the way of production on each track. I so prefer my Dashy stripped down, old school and unplugged-like.

Is it just me, or does it make anyone else uncomfortable when you're talking to someone on IM, or exchanging emails, and said person starts C&Ping you snippets of conversations they've had with someone else? I'm not talking funny-haha quotable stuff that was said. I've noticed it with a lot of people in the past 3 or 4 months that I've dallied back into spending time on IM services. So many of my friends seem to do this, without compunction, that I wonder if I'm off base in feeling that there's something wrong with such a practice. If I'm having a conversation with you, I kind of expect it to stay between me and you, at least insofar as exactly what I said. It doesn't bother me if a friend is having trouble with a mutual friend and she explains to me, in her words, a conversation they recently had or something. But when she just wants to C&P huge chunks of a conversation I was not privy to as it was happening...it kinda squicks me. And of course, then it makes me paranoid, because I start to wonder how many things I've said in IM conversations have gone out in emails or been C&P'd to someone else, completely sans the context in which I said those things. I guess it's silly to think there's anything like an expectation of privacy, but at the same time, I don't really feel like I should have to start every IM conversation with a disclaimer, all "alright, before I start talking to you, I'd just like to know that whatever comes up in this conversation isn't gonna get pasted into an email and forwarded to 3 or 4 people."

I dunno. Is this a gender thing? I was thinking the other day that I have more female friends now than I have ever had in my life, and I just don't remember talking so much about people/drama such that the issue would even come up when I was friends with more guys.

Oh, well. Moving on:

Gallery of some pics from yesterday's game here. Decided against the game tonight, gas money instead to be put towards some tickets in DC ^_~

And I was wrong, btw - EB (hahahaha!) didn't set a career high in strike-outs last night. He set a season-high, and matched his career high. Also, I heard this fairly interesting stat on ESPN Radio this morning: Bedard is the first pitcher since 1918 to, in consecutive starts, end an opposing team's winning streak of 8 games or more. He stopped the Marlins at 9 games, and the start before that, he ended the 8 game winning streak of the New York Mets.

Speaking of the Mets, how about that Jose Reyes? XD

[Bad username or site: lovingthecubs / @ livejournal.com], I think the reason you can't find that SI poll about who MLB players would like to see slugged beaned is because the poll appears in the upcoming print edition and it isn't online yet. The print issue is dated May 29th, so I guess the expanded poll results will be put online around then. Til then, here's the truncated print version.

**laughs** Ang, with 42% of AL Centralers voting for AJ, I think he probably got quite a few votes from the Tribe ^_~

Quick and dirty scan of the piece on David Wright - some color stainage on a couple pages, but it's readable. ( Prince of the City )

The airport security story slays me XD

I just realized that for the first time, I'm going to a ballgame without a single piece of team-related gear to wear. Well, then. I guess a black top and jeans will do me ^_~

eta: Okay, weirdness...why does this entry appear below my entry from earlier this morning in mine LJ?

+ So, the Kentucky Derby came and went, as did Preakness. I take great comfort in knowing that despite our different races, nationalities, religions, and fandoms, we can all agree on one thing: no one gives a shit about horse racing. I have heard 500% more talk on my f-list about the whacked out Finnish heavy metal band than I have about horses running around in circles, and that, friends, is just how I like it.

Which is not to say, btw, that I don't feel bad for that Barbaro horse, because they showed the footage on tv in Maryland over and over and over, and DAMN. But still. Horse racing is about on level with bass fishing, in the interest department.

+ My first several issues of Athletics Magazine arrived in the mail today. Whoo to the hoo, and all that good stuff ^_^ Spring Training issue with Kendall on the cover, April/May issue with Huston and Bobby on the cover, May/June issue with Big Frank on the cover, and the yearbook with Chavvy on the cover. I finally got off my ass and mailed out my check May 8th, so the processing time on a subscription is about 2 weeks, for those who are thinking about getting one.

+ 10 year later, La Russa, Ozzie still feuding. INTERESTING. I must not have gotten to the part of Three Nights In August where, in the interest of presenting a fair and balanced portrait, we hear all about the great La Russa/Ozzie feud, and how all is not lollipops and rainbows in the St. Louis organization.

+ I knew there had to be one of these out there: A-Rod Can't Hit It Big. I bet the New York media keep a folder of generic stories about A-Rod's inability to deliver, and then every time they have an occasion to use one, they have an intern just fill in the specific details. Don't fall all over yourselves to take any new approaches to the same tired story, guys.

+ Speaking of the Subway series, I really do adore these two:
[Wright] needs more help with his post-homer celebration than his fielding, at least according to Floyd.
"He even tried to pimp it," Floyd said. "He's got no pimp."
Said Wright: "I don't even know what that means." -- David, Delgado turn on power.

+ Leanne reminded me about Josh Willingham's blog, which I keep forgetting to check, so I've created a syndicated feed. :[Bad username or site: blog_willingham / @ livejournal.com]. I know, you marvel at my creativity. He posts once a week. Last week, an adorable post about his mom. This week, he posted his thoughts on Bonds. I'm gonna have to get off my ass and start commenting, because I do enjoy what I've read of his blog. I wish he were doing it through MLBblogs, so he'd have a little more exposure, but whatever floats his boat.

+ Remember a while ago, I wondered about doing some kind of dvd/vhs swap exchange? I pulled some stuff off the shelves this weekend past, so I should be able to post a list soon.

Man alive, I need to get on the road, but I came across this a bit ago and never posted it, and then there was the story yesterday that reminded me, so here it is. Mostly for Leanne, I suppose, but:

( Language of love: Reyes overcomes English barrier )

I had no real sense of how far along his english was; I'm so amused David feels free to tease him about it. See, David seems fun! Why can't he show some of that in his blog?

So, should I be blaming Brad or Ensberg for what's going on in COL? Because if it's Lidge, I think all your deprive-Myr-of-fic-in-the-interests-of-helping-Lidge-not-suck arguments take a serious hit, my friends.

Also, the Mets and the Braves are in the 14th inning. Hee. The Mets announcers are getting wicked punchy.*

I have all my shows downloaded! I've only watched Prison Break so far. My brother was right - I should have known better than to second guess Fish ^_~



*"Alright...rally cap time. Somebody score a run."
"Wait, no. We're supposed to be impartial!"
"We are impartial, somebody score a run. Who's up?"
"The Mets."
"Good. Maybe they'll do it."