iamshack

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 08:53 PM) Which is also originally just tap water anyway. The island of Fiji has had itself pretty much destroyed by the water company there. Does this apply to the 5-gallon bottled water services too, or is that tap water that is treated?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 09:55 PM) He's 29 right now, he's not "Entering his prime" by really any definition. Correct. He's probably in the midst of it.

QUOTE (Whitewashed in '05 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 08:40 PM) That's a hell of a passion for him to want to go through the extensive recovery and come back to pitch again. Hell, teams wouldn't be lining up for his services right now if he were healthy... what about after TJ and at 49? What's the best he can do after? A minor league contract with a ST invite? I imagine he is trying to reach that 300-win plateau....I think he's at 274 now.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 06:17 PM) And considering the Sox get to play KC, and Cleveland and even Detroit 18 times every year, 73-71 looks even worse. There is absolutely no reason the White Sox shouldn't be dominating their division like the Yankees and Boston and the Angels and Philadelphia do almost every year. There's going to be times you don't make the playoffs, but the Sox should make the playoffs at least as much as the Twins have. They have a big advantage over 3 of the teams in their division and only one started spending any money. Just being average, and 2 playoff appearances in 10 seasons with KW as GM is slightly below average considering there is a wild card, should be unacceptable. We shouldn't celebrate 88 win 2nd place finishes. We shouldn't celebrate 90 win 3rd place finishes. We shouldn't call drafts that produce guys that make it to Chicago but don't contribute to winning successful.I think KW would agree. I don't think anyone is celebrating anything. I don't think anyone in our FO is satisfied or pleased with our results since the World Series win. We've failed to play up to expectations on several occasions, there is no denying that. I think the issue is more a question of "why" than anything else. If it wasn't so damn mystifying I think there might be more repurcussions, honestly. But I think it's such a freaking mystery to all that it's just hard to place blame on anyone other than perhaps those in charge of player development.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 07:15 PM) Rosenthal is a cool dude, after being reminded about his omissions by Rangers/Sox fans (including yours truly) via twitter, he added both Andurs and Ramirez to the list and then even managed to reply with the news. Yes he is. He has responded to my emails personally regarding info on trade rumors before, which I thought was pretty classy given how busy the guy is. Also nice in person, as I had a brief discussion with him at the Winter Meetings a couple of years ago. Really a class act.

QUOTE (Nyx81 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 07:10 PM) Dear shack, Kindly, no. I was going for (rhymes with doors). Those are ok substitutions. Thanks though. I'll just type it next time, Nyx81 Dear Nyx, Apparently I am no Sherlock Holmes. In the future I will tend to my own matters. I do kind of prefer "witches" though. My sincerest apologies, Shack.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 05:07 PM) Derrick Rose has been named NBA Player of the Month for November. http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/rose_pom_101201.html Kid is special. Is that the Player of the Month for the entire league, or the "Bulls Player of the Month"? I assume it is for the entire league, but that is a bit confusing.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 12:30 PM) Only on ST do people look at an 8-3 Bears team (especially with those expectations coming into the season) and think ridiculous things like "If we had Philip Rivers we'd be 10-1." What is even the point in that? Calm down. Enjoy winning. Stop b****ing. The point would be more clear if you took the time to read more than the two posts above yours before "chiming in." We were talking about the impact of quarterbacks in the NFL. No one was b****ing at all. Only you.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 02:01 PM) So you're downloading a large file and it's halfway done....you get a text saying you're at 90% for the month....what do you do? Cancel the download? Get treatment for your mobile pornography addiction.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 06:35 AM) It is, but there is cleverly disguising a plot within a movie, and then there is an outright ripoff with no intent to hide it. There are original movies still being made, if Cameron is such an amazing director like I am told everytime he is mentioned, you would think that he could of twisted or tweaked this plot a little bit better so internet people couldnt take the synopsis of the Disney Pocahontas movie and crudely scratch out characters names and locations names and replace them with Avatar places and characters, and have it make perfect sense. Yeah, I guess so...but that's part of Cameron's greed...I don't think he cares much about artistic integrity as much as he does about $.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 03:49 AM) What about the Seattle game? I feel like this team could definitely be 10-1 right now. I don't know, of course you can't say that they could not have won that game, especially since it is Seattle's first win on the road in a noon time slot in like 3 years or something, but they honestly beat us pretty solidly that game. We scored a td on a Devin Hester punt return in the final few minutes to tighten the score up, but they did beat us pretty solidly. Of course, with Rivers, we very well could have won, but who knows.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 01:38 AM) Fun stuff for sure. I've seen that Tex follows/likes the TDN Facebook page, but I have yet to see him throw his 10-gallon hat in the ring with a cocktail submission. My submissions all fall under the TDN user handle of "Sunny&Rummy" if you end up tuning in to score at home. Definitely will check it out. Thanks!

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 01:32 AM) But that totally comes down to the particular administration of the day. The minute we get a hard right social conservative administration back in power the first thing it will do will be to challenge/overturn progressive legislation that threatens conservative social norms. imo, there's no point in pushing on this because it will be overturned in short order as the voter pendulum continues to skew right. That's a fair point...but I also don't think there will be a republican in the White House for another 6 years at least, and by then maybe the legalization has achieved enough success that it doesn't really get picked off. Another point, they have made it so easy to get medical marijuana in California, I have no idea why they even bother to make recreational use illegal anymore.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 11:50 PM) It's certainly not an entirely financial-based decision (especially when the state of California will end up with a huge legal bill for the court costs they will incur once they are legally at odds with federal authorities on marijuana). It just makes sense for largely progressive California to be at the front of this debate. The feds have pretty much said they'd lay off them on this one. Afterall, the states are supposed to be the "laboratory" for policy change. I really don't think there would be any serious legislation sought against California by the Feds.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 01:11 AM) On an unrelated note. . . there is a loose affiliation of booze bloggers and e-cocktilians that get together online in a Thursday Drink Night Forum that I quite enjoy. It's kind of like Iron Chef with a special ingredient every week that all the participants have to spin into an original cocktail. Very often the special ingredient is a high end, top shelf category like Martinique Rum or aged tequila, and the folks that show up tend to be top-notch cocktail folks who throw out all sort of interesting recipes that we all try put and critique. Well this week we're looking at a very different strain of special ingredient: Bumwine!!! That's right. Probably the most creative mixologists I've ever encountered are being tasked with making a decent cocktail out of bum swill crap I would have been ashamed to have been caught drinking when I was 15. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this one. For my evening's entry I'm thinking of a Joe Cocker homage drink called "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" that somehow successfully marries MD 20/20, Pimm's, English fizzy lemonade, and perhaps a garnish of English cucumber and canceled food stamps. Oh, this is outstanding. I will definitely have to check that out...as I love Iron Chef...and booze...

Back on the saddle this week after a few months off. Umm...wow, soreness...but definitely enjoying feeling good throughout the day again...

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 12:34 AM) That is certainly a concern. She is pretty well off, an artist type who owned/co-owned couple bars and restaurants in the day and I think now makes her money as an art dealer, but I still don't have a clear read on how much she wants to invest in what she considers to be a home-hosted girls' night party. I only know her peripherally but two of my best friends (my favorite lesbian couple) are part of her girls' club so I'm going to have them help me gauge how high-dollar she wants this to be. Maybe I'll just go for the unexpected and pour Boone's Farm and Natty Light. Seriously, regardless of the money, she's not going to have a clue what many of those ingredients are even for... My ignorant and ill-informed advice would be to shoot for 10-12 "classic" cocktails with your special twist on them.... That will pare down the ingredients but also provide you with enough to make a pretty vast array of drinks off the menu.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 11:08 PM) My bartending debut is two weeks away. I think I have come up with a very god master list of 30 or so cocktails that the party organizers can help me winnow down. I'm coming to the obvious conclusion that the number of cocktails I will be able to offer is going to come down to how much the hostess is willing to spend stocking the bar. I can understand her not wanting to shell out for a bottle that I might only use a couple of ounces of, but the flipside is she will get what she pays for. I think my best approach is to try very hard not to have too many ingredients that are only used in a single menu drink — and that get's sort of hard when ingredients like Peruvian pisco and mezcal are essential to one cocktail you want to offer but almost never make their way into anything else. If I have to limit to a single bourbon (rather than one mainstay bourbon, one small batch, and a rye), I think Bulleit is going to get the nod. It has enough rye character to work in a Manhattan but hopefully also will play nice in standard bourbon drinks as well as the Ninth Ward signature cocktail that I will insist on putting on the menu and really has to be made with Bulleit. If limited to a single gin, I guess Plymouth would have to be it (though I'd like to also have at least Hendrick's and Bombay Sapphire on hand as well). Plymouth will play nice in most any mixed drink and has enough sweetness to sub for an old tom in cocktails like the Martinez or the Ramos Gin Fizz. It also does make a very good martini although t would probably not be my go-to rum for that. I'd like to feature at least one brandy cocktail, so there's another bottle that will see minimal ancillary use. I'll let the hostess pick her choice of reposado tequila and I'll make due with that. I'll also need a couple of relatively pricey liqueurs like St. Germaine, Cointreau, and Domaie de Canton, and those are gong to cost a bit. For rums, forget it. I'm resigning myself to having two or maybe three rums on hand, which is reminiscent of a recurring nightmare I have regarding the home bar. This will definitely be an interesting experiment. Can't wait to see how all this plays out....my guess is that your hostess is going to freak when you show your ingredients list to her though...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 09:03 PM) No, it won't. At least not for that reason. Why do you suppose California was even entertaining the notion then, Balta?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 05:54 PM) Rivers would have still gotten his ass kicked early in the season and he'd still have Johnny Knox occasionally being lined up on the wrong part of the field and blowing his routes to have the ball sail into some random part of the field. Would we be a better team... I dunno, probably, debatable, but that's not what I said either. He'd have taken some hard lumps just like Cutler did if he'd come onto the team under similar circumstances. Rivers is the MVP of the league this year. He is just phenomenal in every way (except scrambling). We would have not lost that game to Washington had Phillip Rivers been our quarterback. My guess is we'd be 9-2 with Rivers instead of 8-3 with Cutler.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 05:40 PM) And yet, I'd bet you, if that team still had a (Healthy) Kurt Warner, they're a 10+ win team in that division and take it easily. That's what I'd say. Yeah, I disagree. Would they win that division, possibly. But with the same exact team they have now, just changing out Warner for Anderson, they're probably 5-6 instead of 3-8.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 10:37 PM) Who said Northwestern is better than Boise? If that is what you've walked away with after all the discussion about this topic then it is really pointless to discuss this further. I'll try to make it brief since I dont have the energy to get into a long discussion right now. Boise plays in a conference where for 7 games they place a "C" game and win. If a team like Ohio St,Iowa,Wisconsin plays a "C" game vs an Illinois,Northwestern,Purdue then they probably lose. Boise plays in a conference where they dont have to worry about sleep walking for 3 quarters and then realize they are in a dogfight for the final 15 minutes. I remember a Miami game in 2002(season they lost to OSU) and Ken Dorsey was playing with a broken hand(non throwing) and they were at a 1-7 Rutgers team. The game was 17-14 Rutgers going into the 4th quarter. Miami won 42-17. Boise never has to worry about not showing up for a game and being in danger of losing to a bottom feeder in the WAC. That cant be said for top teams in major conferences. Well, that's not always true...TCU found itself in a tough battle with SD State a few weeks ago...but yes, you are largely correct for the most part.... This reason alone, however, is not enough to simply disqualify teams from weaker conferences from the National Championship discussion.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 09:09 PM) Sudden memory of one of my friends... Dear Balta, This is a thread containing open letters. Your lack of an inner-monologue (and the resulting inadherence to form) would play better in our other threads. Please place your future rantings in the form of an open letter. Sincerely, Anal Bastard

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 10:00 PM) Just like last time, there's no reason for him not to figure out what his market value is first. I'm not sure it's an issue of market value as much as it is him wanting to explore his options elsewhere. From that cryptic announcement he made (or whatever that was), it sure seemed like he is interested in playing somewhere else, and not all that concerned about the money.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 07:36 PM) Dear Nyx, What word is that? Inquisitively, Milkman Dear Milkman, Not to speak for Nyx, but using my wonderous powers of deduction, I believe it is one of the following words: 1) "witches" or 2) "wenches" Hope this helps, Shack