Bud Black out as San Diego Padres manager.
Black was 649-713 over roughly eight seasons.
Firing watch.
June 15th, 2015Obit watch: June 11, 2015.
June 11th, 2015It seems like all I’m doing this week is posting obituaries. I could do with a week where good people don’t die.
Ornette Coleman, noted jazz musician.
Christopher Lee: NYT. WP. A/V Club.
Not exactly an obit, but:
Edited to add: A/V Club obit for Ornette Coleman.
Lawrence challenged me to find some Coleman on YouTube that isn’t “unlistenable” (his word, not mine). I’ve never really acquired the ability to appreciate jazz, but I like this well enough.
Obit watch: June 10, 2015.
June 10th, 2015
Obit watch: June 9, 2015.
June 9th, 2015Vincent Bugliosi, former LA County deputy DA, the man who prosecuted Charles Manson, and co-author (with Curt Gentry) of Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
(I’m back home now and slowly dipping my toes into the water. After action report to come soon-ish.)
I’ll be your huckleberry…
June 5th, 2015
…cheesecake, that is.
I’m on the road, so expect sporadic updates. I would say that I’m in an undisclosed location, but it turns out my hotel is within a very short walk of a certain university. I didn’t plan it that way (it also happens to be the convention hotel), but it does amuse me how this worked out.
One more photo. I took this last night, after I finished dinner and while I was waiting for the hotel shuttle.
The time has come…
May 29th, 2015Hmmmmm. You can get a Dragon Leatherworks Quantum for a Browning Hi-Power…
You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#20 in a series)
May 28th, 2015My quick thoughts on this mostly resemble Ace of Spades‘:
Point 1: The structuring law is bullshit, and has been frequently abused by the government. The Justice Department actually promised last October that they’d stop seizing assets for “structuring” unless there was some underlying crime. What was Hastert’s underlying crime? Paying someone off, as far as I know, isn’t illegal.
If Hastert voted to make “structuring” illegal, ’tis the sport to have the enginer hoist with his own petard. But a foolish moral consistency makes me believe that if it’s wrong for the Feds to go after other people over this, it’s wrong in Hastert’s case as well.
Point 2:
Last Dec. 8, Mr. Hastert was interviewed by agents. He told federal agents that he was not paying anyone with the money, but was keeping the withdrawals for himself because he felt unsafe with the banking system.
“Yeah,” Mr. Hastert told the agents, according to the indictment. “I kept the cash. That’s what I’m doing.”
Once again, I’m able to quote the timeless wisdom of Ken White:
Edited to add 5/29: And speaking of Ken White…
Everything that rises must get a stamp.
May 26th, 2015The Postal Service is issuing a Flannery O’Connor stamp.
To which I say, “Good.”
My relationship to O’Connor’s writing is a bit complicated. I had to read “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” when I was in school, and I hated it; it seemed like a collection of random cruelty with no point to it. But much later on in my life, something made me pick up The Complete Stories
But I still hate “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”.
Well, isn’t THIS a shocker?
May 21st, 2015Also:
Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton now says crime scene officers have made a new weapons count and come up with 318 “and still counting.” Swanton said he expected the count to continue to rise.
Of those weapons counted so far, 118 are handguns, one is an AK-47 assault-style rifle and 157 are knives. Swanton says weapons still uncounted are clubs, knives, brass knuckles, firearms and chains with padlocks attached.
Yes, 118 plus one plus 157 does not add up to 318.
…it’s the hole.
May 21st, 2015From the NYT, a short documentary about Chris Burden and “Shoot”.
New York City?!
May 19th, 2015The restaurant critic for the NYT reviews “New York’s first authentic Tex-Mex restaurant”:
Among the things Pete Wells apparently thinks Texans might like about “authentic” Tex-Mex:
- People shouting.
- Margaritas with “a slight chemical taste”.
- Warm drinks.
- Identical drinks served in two different sized glasses.
- Lukewarm queso.
- “At most restaurants, you are served what you ask for so routinely that your eyes glaze over with boredom. Javelina does not fall into the trap of dull predictability.”
And for the record…
May 18th, 2015Mike Redmond out as manager of the Miami Marlins.
155-207 in “just over” two seasons, 16-22 so far this season.
Random notes: May 18, 2015.
May 18th, 2015Lawrence has been on the Waco biker gang shootout like a fat man on a Chinese buffet. I’d encourage you to go here and here for coverage. (I was out and about with friends pretty much all day yesterday, which is why I’m running behind.)
A few random thoughts:
- Before yesterday, I couldn’t have named five biker gangs; my knowledge pretty much stopped with the Hells Angels, Bandidos, and Mongols (the latter because of their trademark battle). Not that I’m proud of my ignorance or anything, just saying.
- A lot of yesterday’s stories included some variation on “Twin Peaks corporate office was unavailable for comment”. Of course; it was a Sunday. But I figure there’s got to be a 24/7 emergency number for franchise owners to call…
“Thank you for calling the Twin Peaks hotline. If you have an emergency, press 1.”
“Thank you. If your restaurant is on fire, press 1. If your restaurant is flooding, press 2. If there is a shootout between rival biker gangs going on, press 3. If someone is committing an act of regicide, press 4.”
“You have selected regicide. If you know the name of the king or queen being murdered, press one.“ - Speaking of Twin Peaks corporate, Lawrence quotes: “Twin Peaks corporate “is ‘seriously considering revoking’ the Waco location’s franchise agreement.” Gee, you don’t say. (As I was writing this post, the Statesman reported that the franchise has, indeed, been yanked.)
- “”We are horrified by the criminal, violent acts that occurred outside of our Waco restaurant today.” Shocked, shocked we are to find out that biker gangs used our restaurant as a meeting place. (I know it is early and I’m relying on news media coverage, but it seems pretty well established at this point that this was a biker hangout, and that the management knew it.)
- Not only did they shoot up Twin Peaks, they walked the check at Denny’s and were rude to the Hooters girls. “They come in here all the time. I’ll keep waiting on them because that is my job. But this whole thing is just so crazy. And it’s also disrespectful, because of lot of those girls at Twin Peaks used to work here.”
- Seriously, I feel bad for the Twin Peaks and Don Carlos staff, who are probably going to lose at least several days of pay (if not their jobs) over this. Twin Peaks had their liquor license yanked temporarily, though the reports I’ve read say they can reopen as a restaurant “as soon as police allow it to be opened”.
Obit watch: Garo Yepremian, legendary Miami Dolphins kicker.
A while back, I linked to a NYT story about the Clif Bar people ending their sponsorships of certain athletes because of their discomfort with the risk involved. One of those athletes, Dean Potter, was quoted in the article.
Dean Potter was killed in a BASE jumping accident over the weekend.
Penn Jillette on the closing of the Riveria. The Riveria was actually the first place I ever stayed in Vegas.
Finally, and on a lighter note, the NYT ran an interview with Don Rickles. The news peg is that the complete “CPO Sharkey” is being released on DVD Tuesday. I had actually completely forgotten the existence of “CPO Sharkey” (though I’m sure I watched it) until the paper of record reminded me. Man, it is hard getting old.
Edited to add: Well. Well well well. Well.
Quel fromage! I wonder what they’re going to replace it with. Maybe a Bikinis? Or perhaps a Bombshells? Wait, wait, I know: perhaps someplace good? Or at least not degrading to women?
Notes from the legal beat: May 15, 2015.
May 15th, 2015Latest update from the Philadelphia PD (previously on WCD):
…
In totallly unrelated news, the WP has an interesting article on PappyGate.