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This blog is the work of an educated civilian, not of an expert in the fields discussed.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Baseball

And Also: A Talking Points Memo noted more than once, if you expect the government to be a political cesspool, maybe you don't care. But, if you expect a bit more, you might care that someone ... a prosecutor, that is ... with good performance bona fides was removed to put a Rove guy in Arkansas during the '08 election cycle. With no confirmation required. That sort of thing might be deemed dubious.


A bit more on Pieces of April. One part that I liked was the life that we saw in the seedy looking Manhattan walk-up where much of the action (most of the rest was in the car of the family coming to town) took place. Many different sorts of families thriving inside the apartments therein. A lot to like about the movie, the commentary adding to the experience.*

The movie involved a young black sheep making a Thanksgiving meal for her family, she (and her father) realizing it might be the last of the whole family, the mom suffering from cancer. We learn that though the film is not about him/her exactly, the writer/director's own mother was dying from cancer as he developed the film. Likewise, the idea of the daughter needing to use the ovens of others in her building, after her own conked out, is based on a true story.

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Yes, it is baseball season. Now, some might be focusing on the latter days of basketball and hockey, or March madness. Not I. I am sympathetic to fans of local teams, and still recall rooting for the Knicks in the playoffs back when they had a credible shot (as I recall, this was 1999 or so). But, baseball and football are my games, and the Mets my primary team -- it helps that I don't get YES, the Yankee station, though yes, I live in the Bronx. This makes perfect sense, Dish Network, the network that allowed things to go so far, that CBS was not available for a couple days.

I have caught a few Spring Training games -- it has not be a great one. The norm early on was that they were ahead or in games early, but lost it late (and, not only the minor league and long shot to make team people blew the games, though often they were the ones that did). Likewise, I caught parts -- including yesterday -- of two blowouts ... against the Mets. The hitting doesn't quite to seem to be all there either, while Carlos Delgato was out for much of the time for one reason or the other (now, he is a new dad). The pitching race has really gone down to Pelfrey, the in-house guy who would have been the best bet without all the newbies competing for the shot.

Park pitched three perfect innings Saturday (after a bad performance), but was taken out (to the surprise of him and the announcers), it coming out that he did not make the grade. Maine and especially Perez had good springs, as did El Duque, in limited work. Ditto Glavine, the opening game starter. Bradford's likely replacement also did well. The other long shot starter is Aaron Sele, who I don't recall seeing, but his numbers appear to be mixed. One account suggests he will replace Oliver, the long relief man of last year. Sounds promising. Meanwhile, the Yanks have had problems, mainly ace Wang being declared unfit to start the season ... hamstring. Mussina apparently having scheduling problems (a bit confusing), this leaves Pavano as a top opening day starter option ...

After all, the other options is a rookie, a Japanese guy who never pitched in the MLB, and Andy Pettite, who has a bulky back. Hmmm ... can't they re-arrange Mussina's schedule somehow? BTW, Bernie Williams ala the Mets' manager after his final year, refused to play as a non-roster guy. Willy Randolph noted this made sense -- if it was time to go, why extend it? I think it was handled badly, if only because there were clearly hard feelings on Bernie's side ... he was a classy Yankee lifer, and deserved better.

As to the rest, I have not heard too much, but they seem to be doing well. Oh, can't wait to see the SNY (Mets) announcers as cartoons. Keith Hernandez is halfway there, isn't he?

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* Maybe, a bit on Ophelia as well. The book is sort of a fantasy in that it is an "idealized" view of Ophelia's life, including providing a happy ending. After all, Hamlet was a tragedy, so that didn't quite fit there. Surely, this does not mean everything is happy-go-lucky, surely not given the tragic events around her, but she does come off as a nice little heroine.

Thus, she becomes quite the pharmacist/healer. Still, there are a few moments in particular where she grows, including where her immaturity peeks out, that suggest some of the charms of the work. And, it's an enjoyable book, with a page turning flavor that recommends it. Just noting it is a genre sort of thing, nothing that surprising ... nothing wrong with that per se, and readers generally often expect it as well.