caulfield12

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 06:44 PM) I watched quite a few movies in the last few days. House Of Sand And Fog - Awesome Pirate Radio - Pretty damn good Attack The Block - Good About to watch Everything Must Go. I enjoyed Everything Must Go. Ferrell's performance was good enough to almost make me feel uncomfortable...although never having been around an alcoholic, it's a bit more removed on a personal level. I especially like the scenes where he was trying to bond with the latch-key kid who didn't have any role models to bond with. House of Sand and Fog was excellent, especially Kingsley and the woman whose name I can't spell who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Ocsar.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 06:47 PM) Also, I don't care how old she's getting compared to when she was first in Labyrinth (15), Jennifer Connelly has hardly aged at all. I'd lose a finger to nail her. I don't know, she was cuter when she was in that seedy B movie with Don Johnson way back when. Or Career Opportunities. I'll give her huge amounts of credit for "reinventing" herself and becoming an extremely talented actress when she began as more or less a big-boobed bimbo in Hollywood. Sometimes, it seems she's gone too extreme though...losing weight, she seems gaunt.

Kate Beckinsale was really hot about 5-7 years ago. Not sure what about her has changed since...seems she's had some plastic surgery work done. Something just seems artificial about her appearance now, hard to put a finger on it.

http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/02/i...zone/?hpt=hp_c1 Italy's debt bonds at 6.4% and rising, 7% is the magic number for panic http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/20...bold/?hpt=hp_t2 The current Greek political situation going into Cannes/G-20 and no-confidence vote Friday.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 08:47 AM) Question - What's the US exposure for this? I'm sure we have our hands tied with the EU, so a drop of a country or two would hurt investors and banks here....but how much? Wouldn't the dollar have a really solid period of growth so that long-term it would be a benefit for the US? Or is that totally wrong? Look at it this way, we had the huge advantage after WW II because Europe and Japan had to be completely rebuilt, and China was instituting a repressive, inward-looking regime. Specifically, only 35% of China's GDP growth is domestic consumer spending...and that's shrunk from 45% a decade earlier. So we can't realistically look for Chinese consumption to come close to covering the losses from a European collapse. Not to mention massive spikes here in inflation, health care costs and a property bubble. Plus the RMB and USD are pegged together. Europe, dead for a decade and in a Japanese period of dormancy/stagflation. Japan, still recovering 20 years later and dealing with Fukushima fallout, literally and figuratively. That leaves Brazil, India, HK/Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea and Australia as the healthiest economies standing. http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statis.../top1108yr.html Of course, you still have Canada and Mexico, NAFTA, etc. But those alone won't re-balance this mess because Germany, the UK, Belgium, France and the Netherlands are 5 of our top 13 trade partners. It would also help if we, like, actually started reinvesting in R&D, innovation, education in SOME area other than Silicon Valley. We actually have to produce something of high quality that the rest of the world would wants to consume besides the latest Apple product (which are basically made here in Shenzhen/Guangdong Province anyway).

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 08:45 PM) It probably will happen anyway, but they've invested this much into saving it, they can't just stop now or the losses compound. Well, they can stop now -- but they'd look like "bad guys" in the eyes of the world. It doesn't really matter what happens with Greece if Italy goes down...in some ways, it might be better to get it out of the way in one fell swoop instead of putting the finger in the dike over and over again like we have in the US. Greece and Portugal leave the EU and go back to their currencies. France and Germany decide if it's worth it to save Italy and the entire system...in all likelihood, voters in neither country (especially after watching Greece walk away) will most assuredly NOT be in the mood to save other profligate/wasteful countries. And France itself isn't doing well enough to prop up the EU without Germany. The Germans have to assess what the hit will be to their export numbers in this new scenario where there's a collapse of the entire system. The Chinese, who are the biggest net exporters to the EU, have to be asking themselves the same exact question. Cost/benefit of saving the EU versus the risk of letting the entire system fall (along with all the bank defaults/contagion/automatic swaps that will kick in throughout the system with systemic failure of the sovereign debt pyramid)...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 02:53 PM) So what is the end game? Aside from default and/or dropping the Euro, what is the end game? Another round of austerity measures in 6 months in exchange for another debtor haircut will lead to...another round of austerity measures in 6 months in exchange for a debtor haircut, which will lead to...another round of austerity measures in 6 months in exchange for a debtor haircut... You said "Not really" when I said that the only plausible endgame was defaulting and/or leaving the Euro. Outline another option. Simple, Athens is the heart of democracy. They don't want to be ruled by Sarkozy and Merkel anymore than you or I would want to be as American citizens. Of course, the conflict is that 70% want to stay on the Euro system but 60% are opposed to the bailout/austerity measures, which, as noted, will lead to further cuts, public sector death, mass unemployment and out of control rioting. In essence, they're taking the ball and punting it back to the people and leaving the populace to decide their own fate. On the face of it, going back to the drachma and defaulting will doubtlessly benefit Greece (who will be able to recover more quickly than continuing to adhere to the austerity plan/s, especially their export sector with a new cheap currency and cheap business environment for new reinvestment)...Thailand, for example, and Russia, recovered very quickly from the 1998 Asian financial crisis. Similarly, Iceland let its banks collapse (instead of bailing them out with taxpayer dollars, a similar referendum to what Greece is now dealing with) and are much better off for it, as well. What happens next? Portugal also falls away from the euro system and all the intensity begins to focus 100% on Italy and the dysfunctional "All In the Family" political mess that makes the Guillen/KW relationship look like "Ozzie and Harriet" or the Cosby Show. If France is backed into a corner, where they actually need to produce actual money instead of just leveraging existing assets to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, then they will also be insolvent. Meanwhile, the credit swaps kick into place that starts the dominoes falling again with a run on the banks and 100% Greek and probably Italian defaults. As Balta pointed out, whether austerity is set at 150% or 120% or whatever rate/ratio of GDP, it's simply not working, it's not tenable as an economic recovery strategy. The only counter-argument is Latvia and Turkey...about 1% of the countries in the world that can actually semi-legitimately claim that austerity/government reallocation/cutbacks are working the way they're intended in boosting the economies of those 2 anomalous countries.

That's always been one of the criticisms of the big OBP guys like Dunn or Thome, that in those situations where they needed to drive in a runner, they might "prefer" (that's the implicit criticism) to take a walk and leave the responsibility to the next hitter in the order. Especially with the Pirates' line-up at that time, Bay WAS the run production on that team. So of course what Manto said makes crystal clear sense. In all likelihood, the next hitter might hit into a DP or feel even more stressed knowing a slow, lumbering OBP guy is on base in front of him. Hitters have to know the situations and what's expected of them, what's their role on the team...that's basically it. I'll give one example, Alexei Ramirez should be a consistent run producer and he REALLY struggled to get quality at-bats when there were runners in scoring position.

I thought The Conspirator was very well done. Ebert, in his review, compared the Tom Wilkinson role (Sen. Reverdy Johnson of MD) to Obama, thought that was amusing. Have always liked Robin Wright since her days on Santa Barbara and The Princess Bride...but McAvoy was really the actor who dominates the proceedings. Called a "smart" movie, I think that largely explains why it never found a wide release. Also never knew her son (John Surratt) was "exonerated" a year later, an 8-to-4 hung jury. Kevin Kline's Stanton was obviously over the top, but you can understand it due to his close personal friendship with Lincoln which began as a rivalry.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 31, 2011 -> 01:36 PM) You should know better than to count things as firm before they actually are. The Rangers are likely to lose CJ this offseason, that will leave them more reliant on Harrison and other youth in their rotation, which is always a risk. Then there's Cruz and Hamilton staying healthy. And like it or not, Verlander probably just showed you what a "Peak season" looks like...and they had other very helpful things like great years from Avila and Peralta. Last year, I'd say 2/3 of this board would have agreed that the Twins were the team to beat in the Central. It shifted just that fast. Feldman won 17 games for them not so long ago. There's talk of flip-flopping Ogando and Feliz, respectively.

I finally made it through Paranormal Activity 3...god, except for a couple of "jump out of your seat" scenes, the fact they've already made $80 million (with Halloween showings coming up) is pretty amazing, on an initial investment of only $5 million or so. Must be the most profitable movie franchises in history. "In Time" seems to be doomed by the critics, poor/convoluted trailers and skepticism about Timberlake ever making it as a lead actor to carry a picture. Amanda Seyfried's zany wig doesn't help matters much.

Evans, who most recently has worked as a player agent, would be a good addition to Epstein's staff in some capacity as he is a Chicago native with the type of generational knowledge on Wrigley Field that Epstein had on Fenway when he took over the Red Sox. C'mon, does Evans having worked in Chicago really matter THAT much? By that definition, Kim Ng would be just as good a hire...or anyone familiar with Chicago, for that matter. Heck, they might as well hire Bill Rancic from The Apprentice, and Guiliana.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 30, 2011 -> 05:53 PM) Or a Sith... It's VERY clear the biggest win for the Cardinals was clearing out the drama and clubhouse intrigue in the showdown with TLR. It isn't a coincidence that the team took off after he was subtracted (much the same way the White Sox probably will when Rios is gone)? As far as Jackson goes, they get back Wainright and add Shelby Miller, they'll be just fine in the starting pitcher category.

QUOTE (Pale Sox @ Oct 28, 2011 -> 11:54 PM) I have a hard time believing the Blue Jays regret trading a bunch of non-cornerstone bullpen pieces for Colby Rasmus, a potential star CF. Staying on the Blue Jays as an example, I remember them trading Jeff Kent for David Cone. They Jays won the WS, but the Mets (who were not a contender) received a HOF second baseman. Both teams won. The situations of teams involved in the trade dictated the needs and the therefore the outcome. To say the Cardinals "won" inherently says the other team(s) lost. This is simply not the case. Each team had different needs, and each teams needs were fulfilled. The Cardinals got pitching depth, the Jays got upside future talent, and the White Sox shed payroll (with a slight infusion of young talent). It's a common flaw of those outside the industry to assume one team is trying to fleece another. It makes for a nice narrative when it's time to print some stories, but it's an inaccurate representation of reality. Or we could look back at the Foulke for Koch deal. On the surface, it was a disaster for the White Sox. It led to Gordon/Marte and eventually Shingo as the Sox closer. It also netted Cotts, who flamed out as a starter but had one anomalous season in 2005, which resulted in a World Series. Did the White Sox really "win" this trade simply because they acquired Cotts as well and won the World Series, and the A's didn't?

How can Jose Reyes go to the Marlins? They're going to move Hanley Ramirez to 3B or 1B? Wonder if the White Sox would take a look at JD Drew on an incentive-laden deal if they trade Quentin?

I feel a little bit sorry for Rangers' fans. They've never won a World Series, dating back to the Washington Senators days.

This feels like the 1985 World Series. As soon as the Cardinals lost that game to th Royals (the Denkinger call), they were cooked. Would be shocking if the Rangers lose this game (afte being a batter away twice and blowing it twice) and end up pulling out a Game 7 win. Reminds me of that game this year where Teahen hit the home to tie it and the Sox kept coming back only to blow it in the end.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 04:59 AM) I'm pretty much in the middle on this one. Danks really has no value to the White Sox right now, he's not that good of a prospect, but he's shown a bit of power in the past and plays good defense. If a coach within your system can get through to him and he hits a little bit, you have a 2-3 WAR player on your hands in his good seasons. If I'm Houston or Minnesota - especially Minnesota who pretty much have jack squat in the minors for OFers right now - I'll take a chance on Danks in a second. Depends on how they fit Revere, Span (if he ever recovers) and Hicks (eventually) into the picture. Then you have Cuddyer and Kubel, possibly/probably one of them returning. But I guess you could argue Danks is better than Rene Tosoni.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 06:38 AM) lol. When you reverse it, it looks like it should be a Ben Stiller movie about the game of freeze tag Or Dodgeball. Btw, it seems like Olivia Wilde is in every movie that comes out these days.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 02:08 PM) Got the entire series on DVD. Best gift that I ever got from a girl. Does everyone remember where they were when Uribe made the throw to end it? Man, I was on Division outside a bar. I remember everyone looking around in stunned disbelief. It seemed like everyone was thinking "Did the Chicago White Sox really just win the World Series"? It was almost surreal... like a dream. It took awhile, but everyone finally warmed up to the fact that the Sox won it all and it got pretty crazy on Division. Chicks were flashing everyone. In Cali, Colombia, in a hotel room by myself while I was chaperoning my students for a Model United Nations conference for the country's international school students. Thanks to ESPN Deportes and DirectTV, I was able to watch every single game live. But I still remember most vividly waking up one morning after we'd blown a huge lead to the KC Royals...and the Crede homer off Riske...my g/f at the time and her brother were watching their favorite program and I kept making them flip back during the commercials and you just knew when they won that game the tide had turned. But I do remember playing some really crappy games against the Tigers early in that final week...thankfully that rocket hit off Jenks the final out in the clinching game didn't fly into the RF corner and over Konerko's head or we STILL could have ended up blowing the whole thing. And the Grady Sizemore blown catch in the sun in KC, that was the other big turning point in the final 2 weeks. Then we just steamrolled through the Indians (I think they still had wild-card aspirations at the time) at Jacobs Field and flew into the post-season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_leagu...urn=mlb-wp25446 http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1012635.story Phil Rogers...on Epstein, Pujols, Fielder, Quade, Francona, Sandberg, etc.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 09:38 PM) BTW, I mentioned this in the films thread, but anyone seeking to get a better idea of some of the things that were going on with the banks leading up to the crash should check out Inside Job. Pretty solid explanation of the bs that was going down. Margin Call isn't too bad either. If you want to join the conspiracy theorists, try to watch Collapse. If I lived in the U.S. and didn't vote for the Republican administrations that were primarily responsible for running up the score on our national debt from less than $1 trillion when Reagan took office to more than $14.7 trillion today, I would be really angry about that. And if I watched as the Republican Party tried to make it seem like it was the fault of "both parties" while they turned the routine business of raising the debt ceiling into a cynical political gambit, I would be incensed. And if I watched the Republican Party then try to use the debt ceiling fiasco they created in order to lay the whole thing at the feet of a President who inherited an epic fiscal and economic mess from Bush, I would be livid. yahoo message boards

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 10:29 PM) You can struggle in the minors, but if you want teams to buy in, you have to show some tools. Hit for average. Hit for power. You can't strike out once per three ABs without showing 40 homer potential. Defense is not enough to make up for that. Hence, the Brian Anderson/Torii Hunter comparisons that KW always made when extrapolating his potential results out over a full season. Let's say Danks is even a notch better than Anderson, for argument's sake. Because he plays CF, a team should at least consider it...what's the risk if the most you can lose is 50 grand? That you're blocking a phenom that could be putting up a 900+ OPS? Not in the SD system. Hoyer traded everyone to Boston.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 05:52 PM) Pa3 was good, not great. Pa2 is still one of the best horror movies ever. 3 was certainly not near that level, but still good enough to watch. Wow, I thought the original first one (without the alternative endings) was much better than the 2nd. I'm 1/4th of the way through the 3rd and getting so bored already...I know, be patient! Scariest of all-time? Wow...so many, from past or more recent history.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 01:09 PM) Really though...the White Sox have been in the bottom half of MLB in attendance every year for the last 5 years (last year they were in the top 10 was 2006)...and yet they've been in the top 7 (or higher) in payroll every year since the Series win except for 2009. That behavior is not the norm. Which is all balanced out by the immense media rights (WGN/Comcast), higher average ticket prices (#4-6 in MLB across the board), parking, access to the Chicago market for advertising/sponsorship/marketing/promotions, etc.