Friday High Fives (04/28/06)

This week's five items, ideas, and individuals that I am thankful for, appreciate, or admire.

Greg Maddux
Maddog, at 40 and off to the best start in his career with a 4-0 record and a sick 0.99 ERA, is showing that he still has something in the tank. Of all the things I love about sports (the competition, rivalry, pagentry, history) there is nothing that I enjoy more than the subtle details. The well turned double play, the foot work by an offensive lineman or cornerback, the soft hands and finesse of a 40 yd pitch shot that takes two hops and stops. The techniques and technical aspects that frustrate the amatuers and that are executed so effortlessly by the pros (what can I say it is the dork in me being expressed). Watching Greg Maddux work a batter is one of those subtle things and has been a real treat.

NFL Draft
You have to hand it to the NFL. The have their game extremely tight. No other sport commands the type of year round attention like pro football and the draft is one of the reasons why. It gives football junkies things to obsess about in the spring and puts a charge and hope in the fan base for the upcoming season.

Course Management
Typically warm spring days mean windy conditions here in the midwest (Skilling says so!) and this can be a frustrating thing when on the golf course. To post a respectable round you need to really be in tune with your game, your swing for that day, and the conditions to make proper decisions and get yourself around the course without embarassing yourself. As my game progresses I've really learned that course management isn't just about laying up on par 5's and punching out of trees instead of trying for the miracle*. It is about picking the right club, not trying to jump on or muscle everything, playing to spots, controlling distance, and knowing when to take risks. Of course you have to execute and hit good shots and it never hurts to have a hot putter to erase your mistakes on holes but when you are a struggling amateur player you need to save shots everywhere you can and using good course management is absolutely essential.

Wasabi
As I've grown I've noticed that my tastes have changed. Whereas I avoided spicy things in the past over the last 10 years or so (yikes that sounds wierd) I've gradually migrated towards spicier foods and deeper more complex flavors. One of my current kicks is wasabi. From dry roasted peas (awesome snack) to a smattering between my tuna and sushi rice I can't get enough of the root.

Ballpark Road Trips
G-Unit, current Phoenix resident and avowed Cub fan, has endeavoured to see the Cubs at all the west coast baseball stadiums this summer. This is of course an excellent idea and worthy endeavour and makes me extremely jealous. On a much smaller scale a road trip to Milwaukee's Miller Park (Wrigley North) is in the works and I suppose that will have to suffice for this year but consideration will certainly be given to hitting all the NL Central parks next year.

*- for another opinion on course management you might want to consult my Dad, the Danimal, for his views on course management. Hint: it has to do with fertilizer and lawn mowers.

Filed in: fridayhighfives

102 Films

Kottke, referencing film critic Jim Emerson's list of 102 movies you should see, reproduced the list and starred the ones he has seen. I thought it would be interesting to see how I stacked up so here is the list modified with stars on the ones I've seen. The stars add up to a paltry 38/102 and leave me feeling like I should make it a point to see some classics this summer.

* 2001: A Space Odyssey
* The 400 Blows
* 8 1/2
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
* Alien
All About Eve
* Annie Hall
* Apocalypse Now
* Bambi
The Battleship Potemkin
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Big Red One
The Bicycle Thief
The Big Sleep
* Blade Runner
Blowup
Blue Velvet
Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless
Bringing Up Baby
Carrie
* Casablanca
Un Chien Andalou
Children of Paradise / Les Enfants du Paradis
Chinatown
* Citizen Kane
* A Clockwork Orange
The Crying Game
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Days of Heaven
Dirty Harry
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Do the Right Thing
La Dolce Vita
Double Indemnity
* Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
* E.T. -- The Extra-Terrestrial
Easy Rider
* The Empire Strikes Back
The Exorcist
* Fargo
* Fight Club
Frankenstein
The General
* The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II
Gone With the Wind
* GoodFellas
* The Graduate
Halloween
* A Hard Day's Night
Intolerance
It's a Gift
* It's a Wonderful Life
* Jaws
The Lady Eve
* Lawrence of Arabia
* M
* Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior
The Maltese Falcon
* The Manchurian Candidate
Metropolis
Modern Times
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
The Night of the Hunter
Night of the Living Dead
* North by Northwest
Nosferatu
On the Waterfront
Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the Past
Persona
Pink Flamingos
* Psycho
* Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
* Rear Window
Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Repulsion
The Rules of the Game
* Scarface
The Scarlet Empress
* Schindler's List
The Searchers
* The Seven Samurai
Singin' in the Rain
Some Like It Hot
A Star Is Born
A Streetcar Named Desire
Sunset Boulevard
* Taxi Driver
*The Third Man
Tokyo Story
Touch of Evil
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Trouble in Paradise
*Vertigo
West Side Story
The Wild Bunch
* The Wizard of Oz

Filed in: movies culture lists

Quickies: The "Fat Tracks" Edition

Stereogum has a collection of Cinnamon Girl covers for your listening pleasure. One of my favorite Neil Young tracks. Gnarls Barkley. I mentioned them a while ago and now they are blowing up the internets. I take full credit for this! :) Get the album. It is well worth your hard earn dollars. Are people upset that the Art Institute is going to start charging? It is unfortunate that they had to move away from the voluntary donation system (less than 10% paid more than the minimum suggested donation of a buck). Still, I am not sure that this is going to address the concerns many have had over the lack of minority attendance that Chicago museums have witnessed. I don't mind paying admission to walk the galleries there, the place is one of the crown jewels of this city and has some of my favorite pieces, but I wonder if this is not going to hurt the effort to attract a more diverse crowd to the museum.

Filed in: quickies music chicago

DLee Gets Paid

Derrek Lee signed his well deserved extension today. 5 years $65M and a full no-trade clause effective this year so that means we have last year's NL batting champ locked up until 2010. I am not a huge fan of the no-trade clause because of the restrictions it puts on a team but Lee has been a class act who plays great defense and has hopefully his best years ahead of him. I am very glad that the Cubs locked him up.

Filed in: sports mlb cubs

Quickies - The "How Sweep It Is" Edition

I think Andy Dolan at Desipio said it best summing up the weekend:

This weekend was three days of the good stuff. Three days that remind us why they Cubs are a combination of crack cocaine and being punched in the face by Bobby Brown and we are, forever, Whitney.

Tax tips from Stephen Colbert sponsored by Nutz ("Nothing like Nutz on the back of the throat!").

New Black Keys and Sufjan set to be released.

Filed in: quickies

Just Wondering: To tell the truth?

Is "If there's a leak out of this administration, I want to know who it is." going to be GW's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."?

Filed in: justwondering politics

Friday High Fives (04/06/06)

Back after the Amsterdam hiatus and recovery week. (What items, ideas, and individuals I was admiring during that period is left as an exercise for the reader.)

Without further ado, this week's five items, ideas, and individuals that I am thankful for, appreciate, or admire.

Spring
The gateway to summer and the start of so many seasons that I enjoy such as golf, BBQ'ing, baseball, alfresco dining, and beer gardens.

The Masters
The first major held at golf's mecca is always a treat. I can't wait to watch it live and walk the course but for the time being CBS's awesome HD coverage will have to suffice.

Home Opener
When I think of spring I think of being at Wrigley watching the Cubs. So regardless of what the calendar says spring starts for the Sofa King on the day of the Cubs' home opener.

Translating Rare Manuscripts
The NY Times has an excerpt(PDF) of the 'Gospel of Judas' online and National Geographic has a microsite devoted to it. I find this incredibly interesting from a historical standpoint. I think the study of theology is intensely interesting given the all the social, economic, and political aspects that have resulted from religion. I also find it sad that, despite all the research and scholarship that has been done on texts like these, inevitably this work will be ardently denied and dismissed by the same folks who don't believe in evolution and dinosaurs.

First round of the year
Ah...the first round of golf for the year is a special day for me. Right up there with Christmas and my birthday. I've got a good feeling about this year and I have my goals set and a few golf trips planned so I am very excited to tee it up.

Filed in: fridayhighfives

Just Wondering: Spring

Spring. Great aphrodisiac or greatest aphrodisiac?

Filed in: justwondering spring

Opening Day 2006

Well it is time to get out bucket of Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud, rub the sheen off a few pearls, and play ball. The 2006 Cubs season kicks off today in Cinncinati and, while hope springs eternal, I don't think this is going to be a banner year (or even a wild card year) for the beloved Cubbies. While the team did improve in the offseason by upgrading the leadoff spot, bullpen, and improving the overall athleticism on the roster, these moves addressed the needs we had at the beginning of last season and did not include strenthing the rotation. This year the team will go as it's starting pitching goes and right now it isn't looking good. Wood and Prior are on their annual open of the season DL stint and outside of Big Z, a bona fide Cy Young Award candidate, our starting pitching is a glaring weakness.

Outfield
The addition of Juan Pierre is a much needed improvement over Corey Patterson. Pierre is coming off his worst year as a pro but should rebound in Wrigley. I'd like to see him become more disciplined at the plate and see a few more pitches but frankly anything better than Patterson is going to be a marked improvement. I am not a big fan of the Jacque Jones signing. He is more athletic than Burnitz but put up the same numbers as him and has shown over his career that he can't hit lefties. As for left field, I have high hopes for Matt Murton. He has shown that he can hit at all levels including his stint in the bigs last year but I be interested in seeing whether he can do it over the course of a whole year.

Infield
The Cubs are fortunate to have two of the elite corner infielders in the game both heading into the primes of their respective careers. I look for a healthier Aramis Ramirez to put up huge, MVP-type numbers this year and Derrick Lee to fall off a shade from last year but still hit for a .300+ average and put up solid power numbers. The middle infield is a big question mark. The Cubs are opening the season with 4 second basemen with the acquistion of Freddie Bynum on the roster though I suspect Dusty will have a short leash on Cedeno and use Neifi MF-ing Perez to backup/spell him at short. Todd Walker is as solid a bat and number 2 hitter as you could ask for and I hope this whole platoon ordeal with Jerry Harriston Jr. doesn't cause his numbers to droop.

Catcher
A lot of folks are projecting a breakout year for Michael Barrett and I count myself among them. I think Barrett will put up All-Star numbers behind the plate and show improved defense by throwing out more runners this year. The biggest question mark about him continues to be his handling of the staff and the ability to call a game. Throughout the offseason the whispers continued that more than a few members of the staff preferred having Henry Blanco call the game rather than Barrett. Given the weakness of the Cubs starting pitching staff Barrett is going to have to elevate his defense because we certainly can't sacrifice his bat for Blanco's.

Bench
We got rid of Jose Macias and picked up John Mabry. Mabry has more pop in his bat and, to put it bluntly, isn't Jose Macias so I consider this a win. Our dearth of second basemen is probably going to lead to all four of them being unhappy and I hope that this situation gets resolved sooner rather than later. Unfortunately I think the resolution will be shipping Todd Walker somewhere for cheap and I am not thrilled about that prospect.

Starting Pitching
Zambrano has been a bull for the last few years and at the ripe ol' age of 24 is looking to cement his place amoung the game's elite pitchers. You can pencil Carlos in for 200+ innings and a low 3 ERA this year but the rest of the rotation is a huge question mark. Does Greg Maddux have anything left in the tank, can Sean Marshall cut it at the big league level, how will Glendon Rusch do as a full time start, can Jerome Williams deliver on his potential, and, the biggest question of them all, can Mark Prior and Kerry Wood comeback and have success after their rehabs? Time will tell and I am certainly not a seer but having this many question marks does not make me optimistic or confident about our chances this year.

Bullpen
The most improved area of the club during the offseason. If Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry can continue to have the success they had last season the Cubs will finally have a dependable bullpen. Given the status of our starting rotation these improvements could not have come at a better time.

Reliever
Ryan Dempster did well last season as a closer. Can he reproduce those results? When the Cubs have been successful with a closer it seems to be a one-season deal. The Shooter in '98, The Polish Prince in '03. Dempster does not have a catchy nickname and isn't coming off an offseason surgery like those two so I guess he has that going for him.

Manager
It is a contract year for Dusty. I have soured on him after watching him skirt responsibility for in game decisions, protect players to a fault (ala Sammy, KW, etc.), favor "his guys" over developing youngsters, lead the charge to get Steve Stone fired and hide behind his kid during press conferences when things get tough. It is time to put up or pack up.

Predictions
The Cubs addressed their lead off and bullpen issues that have plagued the team for a couple of years but starting pitching is going to make or break this 2006 team. Given the injuries that continue to plague Prior and Wood, the age of Greg Maddux and the lack of depth in our starting pitching prospects I got a feeling this is going to be a long season. My heart says the pitching staff will pull through and steer the team to a 92-70 record and a wild card berth but my head says 75-87 and a 4th place finish in the NL Central.

Filed in: sports baseball mlb cubs