Author: Jeff

sports

Team of the Decade, Again

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When the Yankees played the Braves in 1999, the media hyped the event as a battle for the title “Team of the Decade.” The Yanks had made the playoffs five times in the ’90s – in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 – and won the World Series twice: in 1996 and 1998. If the Braves had won, they would have had won the same amount of championships (2) but with more playoff appearances they would have taken the title. As we all know, the Yanks swept the series 4-0 and rightfully claimed the title of “Team of the Decade.”
The next year, the start of the Aughts (as this decade is commonly known) ushered in a Subway Series for the first time in over 40 years and NYC was in a flat out tizzy. The Yanks picked up right where they left off and beat the Mets (thank the good lord) in five games to complete their quest for a third title in three years.

Now, with their 27th Championship (I’m happily watching the City Hall “keys to the city” ceremony in the background as I write this post), the New York Yankees can be considered repeat winners of the “Team of the Decade” title. Over the past ten years, the Yankees won more regular season games than any other team, made the playoffs nine times, made the World Series four times (2000, 2001, 2003 and 2009) and won it all twice (2000 and 2009), winning in the first and last years of the decade. No other team made the playoffs has many times as the Yankees. No other team appeared in four World Series. No other team won more than two. Once again, the Yankees rightfully have claimed the title of “Team of the Decade.”
Let’s see what the next decade brings. With Hal and Hank leading the charge, the Baby Bosses are ready to keep fielding teams that not only have a chance year in and year to make the playoffs but to win it all. A “Team of the Decade” three-peat sounds pretty good to me…
UPDATE 1: I just called into NY1’s live broadcast from City Hall and basically talked about this post and how the Yanks are the team of the decade, again. The “Sports on 1” anchor Tom McDonald said to Pat Kiernan at the end of my comment,

“Aren’t you impressed Pat when people call up, Jeff had all of the numbers (Pat chuckles in the background) as to when the Yankees were doing this, when they were doing that, you know, and when you do what I do for a living, you think you know a lot and then you hear from your audience and you realize they know as much if not more…”

I’ve often said that I know more than the television announcers. Now a television announcer has confirmed this belief. Nice.
UPDATE 2: ESPN has a page up on its site about this very topic titled “The Decade of the Yankees?” The page basically is a lead in for a poll and comment thread and right now, 67% of the nation believes the Yankees are the team of the decade.

art

Today in Flux

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On today’s date 54 years ago, Dr. Emmit Brown was standing on his toilet seat attempting to hang a clock in his bathroom, when he slipped and slammed his head on the side of the sink (11/5/55 for those too lazy to do some simple mental math). Upon regaining consciousness Brown reported having “a revelation, a picture, a picture in my head.” A picture which he crudely scrawled down on a piece of paper and subsequently spent 30 years of his life and family fortune to build: the flux capacitor.
As evidenced by three movies, two theme park rides and countless exclaimations of 1.21 gigawatts!The world has never been the same since.

ramblings

Phase 2 Part 2

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I am happy to report that almost ten years after I first launched Sevensquared.com and almost six years after I first posted to WGTCTIP2 two major developments have occurred at the same time: I have changed my host (from Buzix to GoDaddy) and my blog’s content management system (from Movable Type to WordPress).   You may have noticed that I have not posted in over a month and wondered, “Why the radio silence?”  Well, backing up and moving all of my site files (as well as my blog with its 750+ posts) was a time consuming though relatively easy process that is finally complete. Sevensquared.com is dead. Long live Sevenquared.com!
These two changes (host and CMS) are big for a number of reasons:
First and foremost, I now have unlimited space and bandwidth (for a lower yearly fee no less) which means that large PDFs, images, music and movies all can be stored and served by my site along with a super stable CMS that I do not have to troubleshoot and/or maintain myself. The next time my blog weathers a comment spam attack, its someone else’s problem, not mine.
Second, its been time for a change for a long while now and I’m excited to finally freshen things up ’round the ole site.  Everything and I mean everything will be getting a redesign and/or refresh (aka a face lift) and right away you will probably notice that my beloved blog looks a bit different.  I have a new font (Georgia) and a new design theme (Thesis – which gets a lot of fan and hate mail on the web – for me thus far it’s what I was hoping for) .  Two current annoyances are that I cannot figure out how to move the next / previous entry navigation to above the post (not below the post where the nav currently resides) and that I need to learn how to code my header so that an image (and not text) appears.  Also,  search engine results will no longer take you to the entry that is indexed as I’ve moved from a static html archive system to a dynamic php based system so I’m looking into how I can resolve this issue.  In the mean time, I’ve added a custom error redirect that will take you the blog’s main page so at least you’re not stuck on a basic 404 error page.
So, look forward to lots of cool stuff happening through the end of the year and the start of 2010.   I cannot wait to see what takes shape.

literature

Six Word Stories

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33 writers. 5 designers. 6-word science fiction.
We’ll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words (“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) and is said to have called it his best work. I myself have been writing poetry for years and believe that one of my shortest poems is probably my best. Along these lines, Wired Magazine asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves (this was back in 2006 – I wrote a draft of this post then and never got around to publishing it). While Arthur C. Clarke refused to trim his (“God said, ‘Cancel Program GENESIS.’ The universe ceased to exist.”), the rest are concise masterpieces.
After the jump, feel free to read the rest. I’ll keep you in suspense about my own poem until next week when I post it.
Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.
– William Shatner
Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
– Eileen Gunn
Vacuum collision. Orbits diverge. Farewell, love.
– David Brin
Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
– Joss Whedon
Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.
– Stan Lee
Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
– Alan Moore
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
– Margaret Atwood
His penis snapped off; he’s pregnant!
– Rudy Rucker
From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings.
– Gregory Maguire
Internet “wakes up?” Ridicu -no carrier.
– Charles Stross
With bloody hands, I say good-bye.
– Frank Miller
Wasted day. Wasted life. Dessert, please.
– Steven Meretzky
“Cellar?” “Gate to, uh … hell, actually.”
– Ronald D. Moore
Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth.
– Vernor Vinge
It cost too much, staying human.
– Bruce Sterling
We kissed. She melted. Mop please!
– James Patrick Kelly
It’s behind you! Hurry before it
– Rockne S. O’Bannon
I’m your future, child. Don’t cry.
– Stephen Baxter
1940: Young Hitler! Such a cantor!
– Michael Moorcock
Lie detector eyeglasses perfected: Civilization collapses.
– Richard Powers
I’m dead. I’ve missed you. Kiss … ?
– Neil Gaiman
The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.
– Orson Scott Card
Kirby had never eaten toes before.
– Kevin Smith
Rained, rained, rained, and never stopped.
– Howard Waldrop
To save humankind he died again.
– Ben Bova
We went solar; sun went nova.
– Ken MacLeod
Husband, transgenic mistress; wife: “You cow!”
– Paul Di Filippo
“I couldn’t believe she’d shoot me.”
– Howard Chaykin
Don’t marry her. Buy a house.
– Stephen R. Donaldson
Broken heart, 45, WLTM disabled man.
– Mark Millar
TIME MACHINE REACHES FUTURE!!! … nobody there …
– Harry Harrison
Tick tock tick tock tick tick.
– Neal Stephenson
Easy. Just touch the match to
– Ursula K. Le Guin
Special Web-only edition: We were unable to include these 59 stories in the print magazine.
New genes demand expression — third eye.
– Greg Bear
K.I.A. Baghdad, Aged 18 – Closed Casket
– Richard K. Morgan
WORLD’S END. Sic transit gloria Monday.
– Gregory Benford
Epitaph: He shouldn’t have fed it.
– Brian Herbert
Batman Sues Batsignal: Demands Trademark Royalties.
– Cory Doctorow
Heaven falls. Details at eleven.
– Robert Jordan
Bush told the truth. Hell froze.
– William Gibson
whorl. Help! I’m caught in a time
– Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel
Nevertheless, he tried a third time.
– James P. Blaylock
God to Earth: “Cry more, noobs!”
– Marc Laidlaw
Help! Trapped in a text adventure!
– Marc Laidlaw
Thought I was right. I wasn’t.
– Graeme Gibson
Lost, then found. Too bad.
– Graeme Gibson
Three to Iraq. One came back.
– Graeme Gibson
Rapture postponed. Ark demanded! Which one?
– David Brin
Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.
– David Brin
Bang postponed. Not Big enough. Reboot.
– David Brin
Temporal recursion. I’m dad and mom?
– David Brin
Time Avenger’s mistaken! It wasn’t me…
– David Brin
Democracy postponed. Whence franchise? Ask Diebold…
– David Brin
Cyborg seeks egg donor, object ___.
– David Brin
Deadline postponed. Five words enough…?
– David Brin
Metrosexuals notwithstanding, quiche still lacks something.
– David Brin
Brevity’s virtue? Wired saves adspace. Subscribe!
– David Brin
Death postponed. Metastasized cells got organized.
– David Brin
Microsoft gave us Word. Fiat lux?
– David Brin
Mind of its own. Damn lawnmower.
– David Brin
Singularity postponed. Datum missing. Query Godoogle?
– David Brin
Please, this is everything, I swear.
– Orson Scott Card
I saw, darling, but do lie.
– Orson Scott Card
Osama’s time machine: President Gore concerned.
– Charles Stross
Sum of all fears: AND patented.
– Charles Stross
Ships fire; princess weeps, between stars.
– Charles Stross
Mozilla devastates Redmond, Google’s nuke implicated.
– Charles Stross
Will this do (lazy writer asked)?
– Ken MacLeod
Cryonics: Disney thawed. Mickey gnawed. Omigawd.
– Eileen Gunn
WIRED stimulates the planet: Utopia blossoms!
– Paul Di Filippo
Clones demand rights: second Emancipation Proclamation.
– Paul Di Filippo
MUD avatars rebel: virtual Independence Day.
– Paul Di Filippo
We crossed the border; they killed us.
– Howard Waldrop
H-bombs dropped; we all died.
– Howard Waldrop
Your house is mine: soft revolution.
– Howard Waldrop
Warskiing; log; prop in face.
– Howard Waldrop
The Axis in WWII: haiku! Gesundheit.
– Howard Waldrop
Salinger story: three koans in fountain.
– Howard Waldrop
Finally, he had no more words.
– Gregory Maguire
There were only six words left.
– Gregory Maguire
In the beginning was the word.
– Gregory Maguire
Commas, see, add, like, nada, okay?
– Gregory Maguire
Weeping, Bush misheard Cheney’s deathbed advice.
– Gregory Maguire
Corpse parts missing. Doctor buys yacht.
– Margaret Atwood
Starlet sex scandal. Giant squid involved.
– Margaret Atwood
He read his obituary with confusion.
– Steven Meretzky
Time traveler’s thought: “What’s the password?”
– Steven Meretzky
I win lottery. Sun goes nova.
– Steven Meretzky
Steve ignores editor’s word limit and
– Steven Meretzky
Leia: “Baby’s yours.” Luke: “Bad news…”
– Steven Meretzky
Parallel universe. Bush, destitute, joins army.
– Steven Meretzky
Dorothy: “Fuck it, I’ll stay here.”
– Steven Meretzky

music

Possibly The Greatest Phish Song Ever

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Phish is back with a vengeance and their 3.0 incarnation is blowing the doors off every venue they play. They have over the past few months debuted a whole slew of new songs, starting first during their historic Hampton three show run back in March and then continuing during their recently concluded Summer tour.
As an aside, I was at the first Hampton show which I still have not written about on this blog but I can honestly say that it was such a transcendent experience that other than seeing Page and Plant live in London in 1998 – I actually saw them two nights in a row, first with 2,000 people at Shepherds Bush Empire and then the next night at a BBC studio with 200 people which is when I got to high five Jimmy Page – it was the best single concert I’ve ever attended (I preface “single” because I was at Woodstock ’94). When Phish opened the show with “Fluffhead,” a phan favorite that they never played during their 2.0 incarnation, everyone lost their shit the way that Oprah’s audience did when she gave them all a car. It was chaos and it was phantastic.
Okay, now back to the present. I’ve been lucky enough to see Phish 5 times (so far) in 2009 and while I am a huge phan of some of their new songs, like “Backwards Down the Number Line,” one song in particular, a Jon Fishman original called “Party Time” that was debuted at their Merriweather Post Pavilion show on 8/15 which I attended, is just so flat out amazing that it not only vaulted its way immediately into my top 5 all time list but it quite possibly could be the best Phish song ever.
Oh yes, I did really write that statement. “Chalk Dust Torture,” “The Mango Song,” “Harry Hood” and “Down With Disease” now have a new neighbor. Come waste your time with me? No thanks “Waste” – you are now in the sixth slot because I just checked my watch and it says that it’s party time!
I feel so honored to have been at the debut of “Party Time.” It is such a rarity to have been at the only occurrence of a Phish song but right now there is one and only one version of this song out there – from Merriweather Post Pavilion, period. Even “Backwards Down the Number Line” which I mentioned above they have played about 5 times already. While you can listen to over 100 different live versions of “Tweezer,” there is only one live version of “Party Time” and I cannot wait for the first 20 minute version to be busted out. Festival 8 is around the corner and I’m praying they open with a nice long version of it.
A fellow phan and phriend of mine said in an email to me that,

“It is a rare event when a new song is debuted and immediately accepted by the crowd. I can’t wait for it to be played again and get tighter. The energy and goofiness of the song mixed with the odd rhythms and almost impossible layering of parts that shouldn’t make sense, but somehow seem to gel perfectly is almost the definition of what I love about Phish.”

I couldn’t agree more. Don’t believe me or my phriend? Check out the video below and you’ll probably never need to ask what time it is again because it will be permanently “Party Time!” ‘Nuff said.

Video via Nib

literature

Iron Man on Ice Coming Soon

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There are so many different and funny ways of announcing that Disney is buying Marvel for $4 billion. I was trying all morning to think of something catchy to say like how io9 wrote “The House of Mouse eats the House of Ideas” but sure enough my good friend and frequent lead generator for this blog Mr. Neu trumped me and gave me the title for this post.
I wonder if the Marvel Islands of Adventure theme park is going to be shut down now as its run by Universal and not Disney. I wonder how badly the X-Men would crush Captain Hook and his band of pirates. I wonder what the Incredibles would look like if that movie was remade with the actual Fantastic Four replacing the pseudo-F4 that starred in that movie. I can go on and on but I won’t – I’ll just wait to see how this plays out .
The goal of the sale according to the call that was held to announce the sale “is not to rebrand Marvel as Disney but to shine a spotlight on the Marvel brand.” I sincerely hope that is the case.

literature

Butterflies In The Sky No More

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It is with great sadness that I report that a beloved television show of mine is ending its run today. After 26 years, “Reading Rainbow” is going off of the air.
My all time favorite episode was about the book titled Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport. Another great episode was about The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash and on the theme of eating, I really loved the Gregory the Terrible Eater episode which was about a very picky goat who would only want to eat fruits, vegetables, eggs, and orange juice, and refused the usual goat diet of shoes and tin cans.
Reading Rainbow debuted in 1983 – a tremendously formative year for me (I was six) as “Return of the Jedi” debuted in the theaters and GI Joe and He-Man also debuted on TV. Put it this way, while I’ve seen a lot of things in 2009, I don’t think anything thing I’ve seen had the transformative effect that one of those shows I listed above had on me, lest the power of those four shows combined.
It seems that no one — not the station, not PBS, not the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — will put up the several hundred thousand dollars needed to renew the show’s broadcast rights and while the funding crunch is partially to blame, the decision to end Reading Rainbow can also be traced to a shift in the philosophy of educational television programming.
The change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, he explains, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading — like phonics and spelling. I know the basics are important but I still feel compelled to say “boo.”
“Reading Rainbow” will live on in repeats and on DVDs and really, just as the show always told us, we shouldn’t be watching television anyway. Take a look – its in a book. Reading Rainbow.

ramblings

And the Pursuit of Happiness

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Maira Kalman has a blog hosted on the NY Times site called “And the Pursuit of Happiness” which is phenomenal. She is an illustrator, author and designer and the blog, which is a mix of content and illustration, is about American democracy. A new post appears on the last Friday of each month and after reading this month’s post about Ben Franklin I then read the June Thomas Jefferson post and now I am hooked – thus me posting about it.
Both of these posts really struck me because both of these men were so very productive in their lives and I feel often, and by often I mean on an almost daily if not more than once a day basis, that I simply waste days. While I may have fun each day, its not often that when I put my head to the pillow I am proud of what I accomplished that day. As each day brings me a touch closer to my own demise, and with a third of my life probably behind me (and possibly more depending on when my time is up), my tangible accomplishments are nothing when compared to these two giants. Sure, it’s stiff competition but I’m not going to compare myself to Dave from Yonkers. I’m going to compare myself to the best.
Kalman says that Franklin “was a genius, one of the great inventors of this country.” She goes on to say “I don’t think he was ever bored. He saw a dirty street and created a sanitation department. He saw a house on fire and created a fire department. He saw sick people and founded a hospital. He started our first lending library. He saw people needing an education and founded a university. He started the American Philosophical Society, where men and women shared developments in science. And then, by the way, he helped create and run the country.” And so on and so forth – if you want to learn more, read the post.
Moving backwards from July to June, Kalman says that Jefferson “was a scientist, philosopher, statesman, architect, musician, naturalist, zoologist, botanist, farmer, bibliophile, inventor, wine connoisseur, mathematician and and…he was the governor of Virginia, Secretary of State, Minister to the Court of Louis XVI, Vice President and then President of the United States, initiator of the Louisiana Purchase and its exploration by Lewis and Clark.” Again, its a “and so on and so forth” situation here because he did a lot more as well. If you want to learn more, read the post.
The part of the Jefferson post that struck me the most was at the very end, when Kalman talks about how when Thomas’s wife of 10 years Martha lay dying, “he never left her side and copied out their favorite passage in the novel Tristram Shandy. First in her hand. Then in his.”
The passage they copied together sums up how I feel, especially now that I’m closely watching my daughter grow up. First she learned how to roll over, then to crawl, then to walk and now is learning how to talk. The mystery of life is confoundedly amazing and it’s fast. Without further ado, here is the quote:

Time wastes too fast: every letter trace tells me with what rapidity life follows my pen. The days and hours of it are flying over our heads like clouds of windy day, never to return – more every thing presses on – and every time I kiss thy hand to bid adieu, every absence which follow it, are preludes to that eternal separation which we are shortly to make!

Not my usual cherry and funny “Happy Friday!” type post but thought provoking and therefore worth sharing nonetheless. Have a great weekend – make it count!