Sunday, January 31, 2016

My 110 Favorite TV Episodes: Charlie Brown edition

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965): This was downright subversive and is doubly subversive today. First off, Charles Schultz refused to use a laugh track and employed child actors. However, what made A Charlie Brown Christmas so subversive in 1965 was its anti-commercial message. Fifty years later, its Christian themes have only increased the specials subversive nature.

Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Spanish Inquisition (1970): Seemingly unrelated sketches are tied together by Spanish inquisitors appearing out of the blue.

John Adams (2008): Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney star in an adaptation of David McCullough's masterful biography of the second president.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Stupid Quotes of 2015

Quote of the Year: ''You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever."
-Donald Trump on Megyn Kelly

Quote of the Year (Runner Up): "I don't think they're gaining strength. What is true, from the start our goal has been first to contain and we have contained them."
-Barack Obama one day before the Paris attacks

Typo of the Year: …”she’s fought children and families all her career.”
-Hillary Clinton presidential announcement

And the rest:
"We were taught snipers were cowards. Will shoot u in the back. Snipers aren't heroes. "
-Michael Moore

"You have to be careful about drinking around me."
-Bill Cosby

“Because Michael, face it -- the guy was basically average in terms of size, strength, speed, jumping ability, all the things that you seem to think make a great player.”
-Bill Walton on Michael Jordan

"Unless we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place,
remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible
deeds in the name of Christ."
-Barack Obama at the 2015-national-prayer-breakfast

"Well, watch out, you know that Michelle Obama looks like she's from the cast of 'Planet of the Apes,' the movie."
-Rodner Figueroa

"Members deserve to be paid, staff deserves to be paid and the cost of living here is causing serious problems for people who are not wealthy to serve in this institution."
-Rep. Alcee Hastings

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending the best ... they're sending
people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems. They're
bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists and some, I assume, are
good people, but I speak to border guards and they're telling us what we're
getting,"
-Donald Trump

“If you are a white man in America, this country is changing dramatically. You have always been in charge. So there is something to white men feeling like something has been taken away from them.”
-Annonymous White House Official quoted in Washington Post
"I identify with black."
-Rachel Dolezal

"It was very courageous and brave, if not crazy as well, to open fire on the police headquarters.”
-Fredericka Whitfield on the attack on Dallas Police HQ
"I like people that weren't captured."
-Donald Trump

"Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she's untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought."
-Kevin McCarthy

“If only there was a ‘coon of the year’ award."
-Professor Anthea Butler on Ben Carson

There's something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that. There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of -- not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, okay, they're really angry because of this and that. This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate. It wasn't to aggrieve one particular sense of wrong. It was to terrorize people."
-John Kerry

"I have to call a murder a murder and I have to call the murderers the murderers.”
-Quentin Tarantino on police officers

“The terrible events in Paris were obviously a terrible and sickening setback.”
-Barack Obama



Sunday, January 24, 2016

Quotes of the Year: 2015

Quote of the Year : "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP"
-Leonard Nimoy

Quote of the Year (Runner Up): "America has shown to me as an immigrant, that it is the land of opportunity. And I appreciate America so much and this is why it was so important for me to give something back. And we have to keep it the #1 country in the world. So I want to say thank you to America; that you have given me everything that I have."
-Arnold Schwartzenegger

And the rest...
"As I write this, it is not clear that I will ever play guitar again."
-Bono

"What we've said all along, and have been called bigots for it, is when there's this many bad apples, there's something wrong with the orchard."
Bill Maher on Islam

"The interesting thing about Mulder is nominally he is law enforcement but he never solved one case in nine years. So he’s the worst F.B.I. agent of all time."
-David Duchovny

"Fuck you Eddie Van Halen."
-Sammy Hagar

"Whatever you think of Reagan, you have to admit, he had a black belt in badassery."
-Brad Meltzer

"It was all this contemporary music geared for that audience, and it was so disappointing listening to it. Really weak songwriting, insipid vocals and productions. It was really discouraging. I was sorry to hear that. You're waiting for something to happen, musically. You're waiting for some great thing. Like every generation or every decade seemed to have that big thing that carried it through. There's nothing now, at least in rock."

-Alex Liefson

"I felt like I was in a period-piece sometimes. Because I could hear echoes or
sensations of Connery or of Roger, which I didn't try to censor; I'd just allow
them to come in."
-Pierce Brosnan

"Some people think it's a genius album, but I think it's a mishmash of rubbish, kind of like '(Their) Satanic Majesties.'”
-Keith Richards on Sgt. Pepper's

“I’m the only one to separate Siamese twins.”
-Ben Carson

"Calm people live. Tense people die."
-Adam Savage

“Don’t be a slave like I was.”
-Carrie Fisher

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Political Quotes of the Year: 2015

Quote of the Year: "No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they dorespect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find itsfulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
-Anthony Kennedy in Obergefell v Hodges (2015)

Quote of the Year (runner up): "To me, especially in the Northeast, confronting my white privilege is going to the tanning salon."
-Katie Pavlich

Reality Check: "On the world stage, I think [Obama's accomplishments] have been minimal. But on the world stage, just to be objective about it, I can't think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than when he took over."
-Jimmy Carter

And the rest...
"Congratulations to the president for turning a two year recession into a six year one."
-Kimberly Gilfoyle

“To state the obvious, the past six years have been really, really hard for this country.”
-Joe Biden

“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America."
-Rudy Giuliani

"Poor people have been voting Democratic for 50 years, and they're still poor."
-Charles Barkley

"What I dream is that for one election ... every black person in America vote Republican."
-Stephen A Smith

"Get over your temper tantrum, Mr. President."
-John McCain

"we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well."
-Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

"There is a liberal fascism that is dedicated to going after believing Christians who follow the biblical teaching on marriage."
-Ted Cruz

“If Sue loves Joe and Tom loves Joe, Sue can marry Joe but Tom cannot,  why isn’t that a straightforward case of sexual discrimination?”
-John Roberts

“When will the media ask @BarackObama & @HillaryClinton key question for 2016- Knowing what we know now, would you still have abandoned Iraq?”
-Liz Cheney

"Let's be honest: Some black lives really don't matter. If you are a young black man shot in the head by another young black man, almost certainly no one will know your name. Al Sharpton won't come rushing to your family's side with cameras in tow. MSNBC won't discuss the significance of your death. No one will protest, or even riot, for you. You are a statistic, not a cause. Just another dead black kid, politically useless to progressives and the media, therefore all but invisible."
-Rich Lowry

"I won't be the youngest president, but with your help I'll be the youngest female president."
-Hillary Clinton

"Racism, we are not cured of it. And it's not just a matter of it not being
polite to say [n-word] in public."
-Barack Obama

“We should start calling this law SCOTUScare."
-Antonin Scalia on King v Burwell (2015)

"The Iran deal will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.”
-Mike Huckabee
"What a stunning historic mistake!"
-Benjamin Netanyahu on the Iran nuclear deal

"What is the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist?"
-Chris Matthews

“She counts on the fact that people are uninformed. The Alinsky model, taking advantage of useful idiots.”
-Ben Carson

“I think God has blessed us, he’s blessed the Republican Party with some very good candidates. The Democrats can’t even find one.”
-Marco Rubio

"The darkness from a decade ago has lifted, the Crescent City has risen again, and its best days lie ahead."
-George W Bush

“We don’t need an apprentice in the White House. We have one right now.”
-Scott Walker

"LGBT community (GGGG) are like the gay white KKK's. Get them some pink hoods and unicorns and let them rally down rodeo drive."
-Azealia Banks

"If you vote to send billions of dollars to jihadists who have pledged to bear direct responsibility to murder Americans, then you bear direct responsibility for the murders carried out with the dollars you have given them. You cannot wash your hands of that blood."
-Ted Cruz on the Iran deal

“Seventy years after the murder of 6 million Jews, Iran’s rulers promise to destroy my country, murder my people, and the response from this body, the response from nearly every one of the governments represented here has been absolutely nothing. Utter silence. Deafening silence.” .
-Benjamin Netanyahu

"We Live in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter"
-Charles Krauthammer

“I never took a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone.”
- Hillary Clinton

“You can tell the Egyptian prime minister it’s a terrorist attack, but you can’t tell your own people?”
-Jim Jordan to Hillary Clinton

"I’ve got a lot of really cool things I could do other than sit around, being miserable, listening to people demonize me and me feeling compelled to demonize them. That is a joke. Elect Trump if you want that."
-Jeb Bush

"Hillary is running for a lot of reasons—one of ‘em is because she wants to stay out of jail."
-Donald Trump

"Why can't we take out these bastards?"
-Reporter to Obama

"She's killed hundreds of thousands of people with her stupidity."
-Donald Trump on Hillary

"This president won't be the same feckless weakling that we have in the Oval Office right now."
-Chris Christie

"Hillary Clinton has announced that she is letting her husband out to campaign but HE'S DEMONSTRATED A PENCHANT FOR SEXISM, so inappropriate."
-Donald Trump

“She was favored to win and she got schlonged."
-Donald Trump

Monday, January 18, 2016

Sports Quotes of the Year: 2015

Quote of the Year: "Just give me two hours, and you're going to have 50, 60, 70 years of memories. Two hours, can you sacrifice, and reach down and give me two hours, so that you can have a lifetime of memories for you, your family, your kids and your kids' kids? That's the memories I'm talking about!"
-Tom Izzo

Quote of the Year (runner up): "A Cespedis for the rest of us"?
-Jerry Seinfeld

And the rest...
“Because Michael, face it -- the guy was basically average in terms of size, strength, speed, jumping ability, all the things that you seem to think make a great player.”
-Bill Walton on Michael Jordan

 “Don’t cry.”
-Rhonda Rousey to Bethe Correia after knocking her out

"Our goal was to come in here and make the 'Red Rifle' look like a Red Ryder BB gun, and I think we did that.”
-JJ Watt on Andy Dalton

"My heart can take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind, but my body knows it's time to say goodbye."
-Kobe Bryant

"In short, Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, so clearly established by the Dowd Report, or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of all the circumstances that led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989. Absent such credible evidence, allowing him to work in the game presents an unacceptable risk of a future violation by him of Rule 21, and thus to the integrity of our sport. I, therefore, must reject Mr. Rose's application for reinstatement."
 -Rob Manfred

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Willie McCovey: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1986

Born: January 10, 1938
1955: Signed by New York Giants
1955-59: Minor Leagues
1957: Giants move to California
Debut: July 30, 1959 (San Fransisco Giants)
1959: 4-for-4 in debut
1959: 22-game hit streak
1959: Rookie of the Year
1962: Giants win Pennant
1962: McCovey's liner
1969: All Star Game MVP
1969: NL MVP (.320, 45, 126, 101 runs, .453 OBP, .656 SLG, 1.108 OPS, 322 TB)
1973: Traded to San Diego Padres
1973: 2 HR in one inning
1976: Purchased by Oakland A's
1977: Signed by Giants
1977: First player to hit 2 HR in an inning twice
1977: Hutch Award
1978: Hit 500th Home Run
1980: Second player (Ted Williams) with home runs in four decades
1980: Retired
1980: Giants retire his #44
1986: Elected to Hall of Fame (81.4% of vote)
1999: Finalist All Century Team
2009: Elected to Afro Sports Hall of Fame

Accomplishments:
1969 NL MVP
1959 NL ROY
6x All Star
1969 ASG MVP
1977 Hutch Award
500 HR Club
3x Player of the Month
2x Player of the Week
.270
1,229 Runs
2,211 Hits
521 HR
1,555 RBI
.374 OBP
.515 SLG
.889 OPS
4,219 TB
100+ Runs: 2x
39 Doubles (1970)
30+ HR: 7x
100+ RBI: 4x
100+ Walks: 3x
.320 (1969)
.400 OBP: 4x
 .500 SLG: 10x
.600 SLG: 2x
1.000 OPS: 2x
300 TB: 2x
Led league in doubles: 3x
Led league in RBI: 2x
Led league in walks (137): 1970
Led league in OBP (.453): 1969
Led league in SLG: 3x
Led league in OPS: 3x
Led league in IBB: 4x
Postseason: .310, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1.101 OPS (2 Series)

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Ernie Lombardi: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1986

Born: April 6, 1908
1931: Traded to Brooklyn Dodgers (Robins) from PCL
1932: Traded to Cincinnati Reds
1938: Won Batting Title (.342)
1938: Caught both Johnny VanderMeer's no-hitters
1938: .342, 19 HR, 95 RBI, .391 OBP, .524 SLG, .915 OPS
1938: NL MVP
1939: Reds win Pennant
1939: Lombardi's Snooze
1940: Reds win World Series
1942: Purchased by Boston Braves
1942: Won Batting Title (.330)
1943: Traded to New York Giants
1953: Suicide attempt
1958: Reds Hall of Fame
Died: 1977
1986: Elected to Hall of Fame (Vets Cmte)

Accomplishments:
1940 World Champion
1938 MVP
2x Batting Champ
8x All Star
2 No-Hitters
.306
190 HR
990 RBI
601 Runs
1792 Hits
430 Walks-262 Strikeouts
.818 OPS
2693 TB
30 Doubles (1938)
20 HR (1939)
.300: 10x
.403 OBP (1942)
.500 SLG: 2x
Postseason: .235, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .610 OPS (2 World Series)

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Bobby Doerr: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1986

Born: April 7, 1918
1934: Began pro career
1935: Purchased by Boston Red Sox from PCL
1936: Graduated High School
Debut: April 20, 1937 (Red Sox)
1944: Hit for Cycle
1944: TSN AL MVP
1944: .325, 15 HR, 81 RBI, .927 OPS
1945: WWII service
1946: Red Sox win Pennant
1947: Hit for Cycle
1951: Retired
1951-57: Cattle Rancher
1957-66: Scout for Red Sox
1967-9: First Base Coach Red Sox
1967: Red Sox win Pennant
1977-81: Toronto Blue Jays coach
1986: Elected to Hall of Fame (Vets Cmte)
1988: Red Sox retired his number 1
2014: Died

Accomplishments:
9x All Star
.288
223 HR
1247 RBI
1094 Runs
2042 Hits
809 Walks-608 Strikeouts
.362 OBP
.461 SLG
.823 OPS
3270 TB
30+ Doubles: 6x
10+ Triples: 4x
20+ HR: 3x
100+ RBI: 6x
.300+: 3x
.500 SLG: 3x
Led league in Triples (11): 1950
Led league in Games (155): 1943
Led league in SH (22): 1938
Led league in SLG (.528): 1944
Postseason: .409, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1.049 OPS (1946 WS)

Friday, January 8, 2016

19th Century timeline: 1801-1810

1801: Thomas Jefferson wins the Presidential Election in the House of Representatives
    Battle of Abukir
    The Concordant
    First Barbary War (1801-05)

1802: Treaty of Amiens

1803: Marbury v Madison
    Louisiana Purchase
    Robert Emmet executed

1804: Haiti wins independence
    Decatur's Raid
    Napoleonic Code
    Lewis and Clark Expedition begins (1804-06)
    Burr-Hamilton duel
    Jefferson re-elected

1805: Trafalgar
    Austerlitz
    Peace of Pressburg

1806: Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
    Continental System

1807: Battle of Montevideo
    Battle of Eylau
    Burr Treason trial
    Slave trade banned by British Empire
    Chesapeake-Leopold Affair
    Treaty of Tilsit
    First Steamboat
    Embargo Act

1808: Slave Trade banned in U.S.
    James Madison elected President

1809: Peninsular War (1807-14)
    Non-Intercourse Act

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Quotes of the Month: December 2015

Quote of the Month: "To me, especially in the Northeast, confronting my white privilege is going to the tanning salon."
-Katie Pavlich

Stupid Quote of the Month: “I sold them to the white slavers that takes these things, and…,”
-George Lucas on the sale of Star Wars to Disney

and the rest...

"Like I always say, the 2nd Amendment, the provision that gives every American the right to keep and bear arms, is blind and stupid."
-Geraldo

"This whole white privilege thing is indeed racist."
-Katie Pavlich

"She's killed hundreds of thousands of people with her stupidity."
-Donald Trump on Hillary

"In short, Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, so clearly established by the Dowd Report, or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of all the circumstances that led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989. Absent such credible evidence, allowing him to work in the game presents an unacceptable risk of a future violation by him of Rule 21, and thus to the integrity of our sport. I, therefore, must reject Mr. Rose's application for reinstatement."
 -Rob Manfred

"This president won't be the same feckless weakling that we have in the Oval Office right now."
-Chris Christie

"Hillary Clinton has announced that she is letting her husband out to campaign but HE'S DEMONSTRATED A PENCHANT FOR SEXISM, so inappropriate."
-Donald Trump

“She was favored to win and she got schlonged."
-Donald Trump

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Brian Downing: timeline

Born: October 9, 1950
1969: Signed by Chicago White Sox
Debut: May 31, 1973 (White Sox)
1973: Shredded his knee. 60 Day DL
1977: Traded to California Angels
1979: All Star
1979: Angels win AL West
1980: Broke his ankle. Moved to OF
1982: Set record for most chances (330) without an error
1982: Angels win AL West
1983: 244 Errorless game (record) streak snapped
1985: Appeared in The Jeffersons
1986: Angels win AL West
1991: Signed by Texas Rangers
1992: Retired
1998: Dropped off Hall of Fame ballot (0.4% of vote)
2009: Elected to Angels Hall of Fame

Accomplishments:
1979 All Star
April 1987 Player of the Month
August 12, 1990 Player of the Week
.267
275 HR
1073 RBI
1188 Runs
2099 Hits
1197 Walks-1127 Strikeouts
.370 OBP
.796 OPS
3340 TB
Led league in walks (106): 1987
100+ Runs: 2x
37 Doubles (1982)
20+ HR: 6x
.326 (1979)
.400 OBP: 3x
Postseason: .197, 1 HR, 8 RBI, .554 OPS (3 Series)

Friday, January 1, 2016

Jack Clark baseball timeline

Born: November 10, 1955
1973: Drafted by San Fransisco Giants
1973-5: Minor Leagues
Debut: September 12, 1975 (Giants)
1978: 26-game hitting streak
1978: .306, 25 HR, 98 RBI, 90 Runs, 181 Hits, 46 doubles, 8 triples, .895 OPS, 318 TB
1980: Willie Mac Award
1985: Traded to St. Louis Cardinals
1985: Hit pennant winning HR vs. Dodgers
1985: Cardinals win Pennant
1987: .286, 35 HR, 106 RBI, 93 Runs, 136 BB, 1.055 OPS
1987: Cards win Pennant
1987: Injuries limit Clark to one postseason AB
1988: Signed with New York Yankees
1988: Traded to San Diego Padres
1990: Feud with Tony Gwynn
1990: Signed with Boston Red Sox
1993: Signed by Montreal Expos
1993: Retired
1998: Dropped off Hall of Fame Ballot (1.5% of vote)
1999-2000: Minor League Manager
2001-03: Dodger hitting coach
2008-09: Minor League Manager
2013: Talk Radio host
2013: Fired for accusing Albert Pujols of PED use

Accomplishments:
4x All Star
2x Silver Slugger
Player of the Month (May 1978)
5x Player of the Week
.267
340 HR
1180 RBI
1118 Runs
1826 Hits
.379 OBP
.476 SLG
.854 OPS
3256 TB
30+ Doubles: 2x
46 doubles (1978)
20+ HR: 11x
35 HR (1987)
100+ RBI: 2x
100+ Walks: 4x
.306 (1978)
.400 OBP: 4x
.500 SLG: 6x
1.055 OPS (1987)
318 TB (1978)
Led league in BB: 3x
Led league in OBP (.459): 1987
Led league in SLG (.597): 1987
Led league in OPS (1.055): 1987
Postseason: .298, 1 HR, 8 RBI, .804 OPS (3 Series)