FlaSoxxJim

Not us. We just steal the kiszka from the butcher shop (*Hey!*)

In all seriousness, the women players sound impressive. I'm not an avid chess player although I do enjoy it when I get a chance to play, but it's neat to hear the game is growing in popularity with women and that they are competitive. I think mastery of the game involves the sort of spatial cognitive aptitude that some anthropologists believe to have been more stronly selectd for in men versus women over human evolution. The gift for spatial abstractions that would have enabled a nomadic stone age tribe leader to find the same foraging grounds, watering holes, mountain passes etc. from year to year is the same gift that would allow someone to become a chess champion I think. I lack that kind of spatial genius, so I'll never be more than an very average chess player. You and Tex should get some online games going.

Your chess knowledge, and Tex's, is impressive. But calling it a sport? Sure, the competitive element is a there, but I don't know about sport. And about those Indian and Chinese female chess players... word on the street is they're using steroids.

There's a statistical fallacy in people's pointing to the Marlins, Angels, etc. winning it all and saying that it shows huge payrolls don't matter. The chances of any one specific low payroll team winning it all is much less than the chances of a big payroll Yankees or Red Sox team winning it all. The fact that you have maybe 25 teams in that small payroll category and only a handful in the other means that the chances that one of the many small payroll teams catches lightning in a bottle are higher, but the the chances of it being any one specific team that does it remain very low. A $180 million payroll is insanity. Jeter and A-Rod making up the left side of the infield is obscene.

This is the year Jose makes a believer out of you, cw. Tall order, I know. It's passe' to be a big Jose backer, but that's ok because I always get good seats at all the club meetings now! I have no explaination for my sudden and totally unfounded optimism obout this year's campaign. Must just be the fact that the season is finally around the corner. Spring is here, and hope springs eternal, right?

Holes, dysfunction, and all, I'm starting to get antsy to get this year going. And I don't know what it is, but I have this feeling Willie (see question 4 below) is going to rise to the occasion and have a big year. Go 2004 White Sox! Spring Training Preview Five questions for Sox camp Sunday, February 15, 2004 By Joe Cowley Staff writer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The star slugger hasn't returned phone calls from his new manager. One of last year's "ace" pitchers has gone Hollywood for a rich free-agent deal. A candidate to be the new closer is the all-time saves leader ... in Japan. Welcome to White Sox Spring Training 2004, where Dr. Phil would have his hands full. "I'm excited to get this thing going," first-year manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I want to get these guys playing the game the right way. "I hate to always bring up Florida (where Guillen was the third-base coach for the World Series champion Marlins last season), but people didn't think we would even win 60 games at the start of the season, and we ended up winning it all. That's because we played the game the right way. That's what I want these guys to do, starting Day 1 in spring training." Sounds like a great plan — in a perfect world. But the world the Sox operate in is far from perfect. Chaotic is more like it. So, even before pitchers and catchers report to camp in Tucson, Ariz., next Friday, inquiring Sox fans have plenty of questions about the 2004 squad. Here are five of them: 1. Is Ozzie the right man for the job? Guillen says he wants his players to start "caring for one another more" and "learning how to win." But first he'll have to earn their trust by proving he knows what he's doing. The former Sox shortstop's passion for the game can't be questioned. General manager Ken Williams acknowledged that Guillen's "in-your-face" attitude was a key factor in winning him the job as Jerry Manuel's successor. "When I leave the ballpark after a tough loss," Williams said, "I'll know there's at least one other person that feels as bad, if not worse, than I do. That's why I hired this man." How that translates into wins and losses remains to be seen. The fact is, Guillen has never managed a major league game. He has promised to return hard-nosed baseball to the South Side, but what about astute game management? That's where veteran bench coach Joe Nossek comes in. Nossek is as sly as a fox in reading what the opposition is going to do, and Guillen will rely heavily on him. 2. Can the dysfunctional family play nice? Guillen angered Frank Thomas right off the bat, questioning the veteran slugger's ability to be a team player during the news conference at which Guillen was introduced as manager. Since then, Guillen has said Thomas has not returned his phone calls. Williams said the Big Hurt hasn't returned his calls, either. During SoxFest two weekends ago, Guillen did his best damage control by praising Thomas, but there's no doubt the two will have to sit down and talk things out early in training camp. This is a powder keg just waiting for a spark. Jose Valentin and Mark Buehrle have talked about a worst-case scenario — a Guillen-Thomas feud that carries over into the clubhouse. That could be big trouble for a team with psyche as brittle as the Sox's. What's more, Guillen took a verbal poke at second baseman Willie Harris — his pet project this spring — saying Harris didn't deserve to wear Guillen's old No. 13 last season. The strength of AL Central Division rivals Minnesota and Kansas City is their team chemistry. Tony Graffanino — one of the few "team" players the Sox had last season — signed a free-agent deal with the Royals this offseason, delivering a clear message that he was tired of being a part of a clubhouse divided. 3. Will the rotation have a great Scott? The Sox feel their top three starting pitchers — 2003 AL Cy Young runner-up Esteban Loaiza, Buehrle and Jon Garland — give them the best rotation in the division. But while Buehrle and Loaiza have the capacity to be a devastating one-two punch, No. 3 starter Garland is still an enigma. And after those three, there are some serious question marks. Lefty Scott Schoeneweis has been highly touted by Williams as the pitcher to watch in camp. A former starter turned reliever, Schoeneweis will get a chance to return to the starting role he lost in Anaheim. But his 23-27 career record and 5.28 ERA as a starter aren't very reassuring. "We had been after him for three years," Williams said. "We think he's one of those guys that's ready to turn the corner. I really think he's going to surprise a lot of people that doubt him." Considering the huge hole that was left by the departure of Bartolo Colon to the Angels, Williams had better hope Schoeneweis does turn that corner. 4. Willie ... or won't he? Harris' alarm clock had better be reliable while he's in Tucson. It's going to get a lot of work in the early-morning hours. The 25-year-old speedster has been informed by Guillen and third-base coach Joey Cora that he'll be expected to be on the field almost every morning for extra practice. The hope is that this superior athlete can be made into a baseball player. Harris is being penciled in as not only the starting second baseman — replacing free-agent departee Roberto Alomar — but also as the team's leadoff hitter. Considering he has a .213 batting average at the major league level, there's a lot of work to be done. No one knows that better than Harris. "You look at my numbers and I'm even like, 'Why are they giving me the job?' '' he said. "But I have the ability and they know my ability. Hopefully Ozzie can show me a lot of things that will help. I'm glad to be at second base and not center field because second base is home. Center field is more like a hotel. "I know there's doubters, but they don't know Willie. I know Willie." 5. Can Koch catch fire again? To say right-handed reliever Billy Koch is a key for the bullpen is a huge understatement. After losing Tom Gordon and Scott Sullivan to free agency in the offseason, the Sox 'pen is left with little experience in closing games — aside from Koch. Damaso Marte has shown glimpses of being an effective closer, but he hasn't done it on a regular basis. The same goes for Cliff Politte, who was grabbed from Toronto in the offseason. Shingo Takatsu is a veteran closer, but that was in the Japanese League. He has never played in a major league ballpark. The Sox are hoping Koch's mysterious drop in velocity last season is behind him. Mostly, they hope the righty has his confidence back. If Koch is near the 96-mph mark and can find the strike zone, the rest of the bullpen sets up very nicely behind him, with Marte, Politte and Takatsu each being late-inning guys. But if Koch shows up at camp with the same problems that hampered him last year, the closer's job will be completely up for grabs.

Yes, it is a great book. How about Christopher Lee? I'd have gone with Lee's Hammer Films counterpart Peter Cushing if he was still alive. Lee's probablt too old now, maybe 20 years ago or so.

Remember they got their seasons all turned around Down Under. It only got to around 78 here, but it was perfect weather today at the park watching my little gorl's T-ball team practice. And lake Michigan's still, frozen, huh?

Are you sure about that? Have you talked to her today? V-Day was nice. Got the kids locked away in their cupboard under the stairs, made a chicken and heavy cream dish me wife likes (w/artechokes, snow, peas, mushrooms, pearl onions and soe other yummy stuff). Had Chimay Cinq Cints (Belgian beer made by kick-ass Trappist monks) and a French Brouilly beaujolais with diner, and for dessert chocolate-covered strawberries and cherries with Lindeman's Framboise (Belgian raspberry lambic - if you have a girlfriend/wife who thinks she doesn't like beer let her try this). I gave my wife a certificate for a day at an upity spa she's been curious about. She gave me a game and a DVD of the complete Ed Sullivan shows with the Beatles' live appearances. The rest of the enjoyable evening is between the wife and myself.

Don't let the schoolboy short pants fool you! By the way, do you think Eddie Munster knows Angus Young is wearing his clothes?

I'd never use AC/DC (young, old, or otherwise) and the word 'graceful' in the same sentence. Wherever in the human genome the AC/DC-liking gene resides, I'm fairly certain I was born without it. I can count the AC/DC songs I like on one hand and have at least 3 fingers left over. Tina Turner aged gracefully for a long, long time. I had always heard it was her "hot legs" Rod was singing about, and seeing her as the Acid Queen in "Tommy" as a pre-pubescent kid definately gave me a strange but pleasant tingling. But to all good things an end must come. About 10 years or so, the Dorian Gray-model painting of her in the closet that kept getting older must have been bunrd in a fire, because she is showing her age now. Leading the pack of those who did noot age gracefully... I saw some of that Blondie reunion a couple years ago. Debbie Harry is looking rough, boyo.

Hope you don't have to fly soon... you'll probably set off the airport metal detectors.

WHAT A GREAT ALBUM!! That's why, with the exception of a song here and there, some of the Stewart stuff from the last 2 decades has left me cold. I guess it's way of singing his age, aging gracefully, or whatever. But Joe Cocker made the transition better, and some old songsters like Van Morrison never went that way (he got his suck out of the way in the 80s I guess). I think the last several Van albums since maybe Too Long in Exile have been really strong.

Not since Rod the not-so Mod's "Great American Songooks 1 & 2" have come out. Gimme "Hot Legs" and a shot of vit-a-min E, or some old Faces stuff.

Thus is answered the age-old question, 'why is the smiley smiling.'

You're making me doubt everything I THOUGHT I knew about film. I thout Psycho was scored by Bernard Herrmann, who also did North By Northwast and, years earlier, made his debut scoring a little flick called Citizen Kane. I'll have to make a point of seeing this Russian Ark of which you speak. I think the single long-take effect was used to great effect in Rope - made everything feel very claustrophobic in the one room with all the dinner guests eating off a trunk that contained the body of the guy killed in the beginning of the film. You make Ark sound more grandiose than a take in a single room, so I'm intrigued.

The Fri-Sat-Sun the home opener has been on the last few years made it nice, and I had been able to swing that trip since 2000. Mid-week ain't gonna happen, unfortunately, so there's at least one less person looking for tix.

Is it truly a single take, or is it edited as a single take ala' Hitchcock's "Rope"? Rope, I know, was shot on 8 10-minute reels, but it is regularly referred to as being shot as a continuous take. Surprising that Hitch has yet to be discussed much here. Some of his films can crack my top 20, depending on the day. Favorites are The Trouble with Harry, Rear Window, North By Northwest, Psycho, Rope, Vertigo, Sabateur, his second The Man Who Knew Too Mutch, and Strangers on a Train. The Birds is fun to see every couple of years. I actually have yet to see 39 Steps or the original Man Who Knew Too Much.

Ta!

I don't think you'll have trouble with either series, but mid-week 1:05 starts for KC probably will be harder for most people to get to than the 7:05 starts for NY.

That's a lot of carats! Asrtronomers Spy Massive Diamond

Agreed, and families of privilege had more avenues for avoiding the Viet Nam era draft. Some avenues were clearly legal, some perhaps questionably or marginall legal, but the motive of avoiding combat duty is not hard to fathom. Letting the children from families of lesser means do the fighting, killing and dying while the upper crust stays here and waves the flag the highest is a kind of tradition here.

No, because I haven't paid a lot of attention to him.

Bush says he is now going to release all his military service records. For my part, I am much more interested in the two blacked out paragraphs on his Guard application where he had to explain his arrest record than I am in where and how he spent 5 months in 1973. For my part, ALL the records will not be have been released until a complete and uncensored copy of the application is released. Any pending claims that all issues pertaining to his Guard service days are cleared up will be premature until the complete application is also released. Wreath-stealing and rowdiness at a college football game are not likely the things that need to be blacked out of an application. DUIs convictions or past drug abuse do not make the offender a categorically bad person, either. Humans make mistakes, and to Bush's credit he succeeded in cleaning up, compared to his younger years. At the same time, if the content of the edited parts of the application do deal with substance abuse-related arrests, blacking those items out suggests that it was understood they could present a problem. People would have questioned why Bush was selected for highly competitive flight training if other applicants with the same qualifications and the same sort of arrest troubles would not have been similarly selected. In truth, the applications of Bush AND some other people (if they consent to their release, not required to be identified by name) selected for the same positions should be scrutinized along side the applications of some people who didn't make the cut. That's the only way to see if the selection process was on the up and up. If it was, case closed. There more pressing issues anyway. Personally, I don't particularly care if strings were pulled to get Bush into the Guard, into college, into business school or whatever. As it stands, it is generally widely believed that this is the case. But, how about coming out and coping to it then - 'Hey, my family was in a position to pull strings, I avoided the draft in a way that was available to me, but I still fulfilled my service obligation in he Guard.' I like that better than the perceived attempts to bury or censor the records on the issue.