Nonsense Upon Stilts

Sorry, I couldn’t resist making a bad pun about the totally awesome news that MLB finally fired some not-so-great umpires. Of course, I’m sure that more went into this decision than their penchant for blowing calls, or else C. B. Bucknor and Angel Hernandez (who somehow wasn’t even mentioned in this article) would have been gone a long time ago. Still, I hope this makes umpires think twice and consult with one another before they start guessing at calls. It’s hard enough to defend baseball to those who think it’s a boring game that goes on for too long, without having to add a disclaimer that umpire errors are expected in baseball. At least, the commissioner thinks so.

No Comments | In: Baseball, Sports, Things I like | tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, Sports, Umpires. | #

More Olympics silliness. Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer won the gold medal in the Mens’ 5000 meter race. Yippee! That part is pretty awesome. But then he acted like a jerk to a reporter who wanted to interview him afterward.

She asked him to identify himself and his country, and he refused, asking her, “Are you stupid?” Not nice, Sven, not nice, especially since she said it was for tape identification. I understand that he just won a gold medal and is supremely important in his own country, but we don’t really care about that stuff in the US. Sorry. I can identify two speed skaters on sight, and can only tell them apart because they’re both cute. If Sven could find a way to incorporate touchdowns or homeruns into speed skating, he would definitely increase his odds of being recognized by the average American.

Still, I can understand how he’d be frustrated that a reporter covering the event he just won would ask him who he was. So maybe a bit of sarcasm would have been in order, but “Are you stupid?” is never a nice thing to say to somebody. And karma is a bitch. So I smirked a bit when I read that Kramer would have set a record and won gold in the 10,000 meter race, but followed incorrect instructions from his coach and crossed into the wrong lane, resulting in his disqualification. That sucks, and he still had to give interviews afterward.

I wonder if he was nicer to this batch of reporters.

No Comments | In: Amusing, Sports | tags: Olympics, Schadenfreude, Speed Skating, Sports, Sven Kramer. | #

As if the whole Evgeni Plushenko thing wasn’t funny enough on its own (and it is), the matter has become even more bizarre, what with the involvement of Russian president Vladimir Putin (his public message to Plushenko said “Your silver is as good as gold.“), and Plushenko posting on his web site that he actually won a platinum medal. Oh. My. God. This guy is like the king of all sore losers, even going so far as to create an entirely new medal to commemorate his imagined awesomeness. (via Virginia & Josh)

No Comments | In: Amusing, Awesome, Seriously?, Sports | tags: Evgeni Plushenko, Facepalm, Figure Skating, Olympics, Sports. | #

There are a few accepted pursuits that will allow a man to be considered manly whilst wearing spandex. They are: superhero, cyclist, swimmer (yes, please). Figure skating is not considered to be a very manly pursuit. It’s aimed at female audiences, and pretty much every guy I know will give at least a token grumble when it’s put on tv. So I can’t even explain how much I love what a baby Evgeni Plushenko is being about not having won the gold medal. He refused to shake the hand of Evan Lysacek, who did win the gold, and then made the following remarks:

“I was positive that I won. But I saw that Evan needs a medal more than I do. Maybe because I already have one.”

and

“If the Olympic champion doesn’t know how to jump a quad, I don’t know,” Plushenko said. “Now it’s not men’s figure skating. It’s dancing. Maybe figure skating needs a new name.”

Let’s consider this: a disgruntled figure skater is talking smack? I do not question the athleticism required by figure skating, but seriously?? You are not that hardcore, buddy.

No Comments | In: Amusing, Facepalm, Sports | tags: Evan Lysacek, Evgeni Plushenko, Facepalm, Figure Skating, Olympics, Sports. | #

I don’t care about football. At all. But I was happy that the Saints won, because I have an irrational hatred for the many Mannings, and also because I love it when the underdog triumphs. So here’s a video of New Orleans fans celebrating their team’s victory.

Who Dat? Saints Superbowl Victory Celebration from Cottage Films on Vimeo.

No Comments | In: Sports, Things I like | | #

This weekend, Serena Williams and Kanye West both had really public, ugly, meltdowns. They behaved horribly, which both of them later acknowledged. Whether their apologies (Williams; West’s initial apology, and what’s on his web site now) move anybody remains to be seen. With Serena Williams, she hurt herself far more than she did anybody else. Her tirade against the lineswoman cost her match point, a $10,000 fine from the USTA, and put Kim Clijsters in the finals (Clijsters won, which is all kinds of awesome).

For Kanye West, who is no stranger to controversy, this particular episode ended up hurting not only him, but also both Taylor Swift and Beyonce (although Beyonce is a total class act and had Taylor Swift come onstage and redo her acceptance speech).

One (black) woman who I follow on Twitter (she usually writes about tech stuff) posted several comments about how Kanye’s behavior would reflect poorly on black people. I didn’t agree with her assertion then, and I don’t now. When I heard about what he did, I wasn’t worried that we’d all be tarred with the same brush as West; I was just thinking, “Not this stupidity again.” I mean, seriously, how many times can one person wander across stage at an awards show before he determines that it isn’t a good idea?

BUT…Rep Joe Wilson also did the same thing. His was probably even worse though, because he heckled the freaking president. Ummm…not smart. And I haven’t heard anybody say that they feel all white people would do this, just  because one white person did it. If there is an assumption that any person who is in some way other (which in this country usually means non-white and/or non-male) than the norm speaks for everybody in that same demographic, the smart thing to do isn’t to pander to it. That kind of thinking is central to stereotyping and racial profile, and people shouldn’t accept that kind of laziness. Is it naive of me to think that this kind of thinking isn’t common? Do people generally go around thinking “all black people are…?” I really hope not. I’m an individual, and anything I want to say, I can say for myself.

Kanye West does not speak for me.

Serena Williams does not speak for me.

I’m pretty sure that Joe Wilson would not speak to me, and he damn sure doesn’t speak for me.

Related:

Joe Wilson, Serena Williams, and Kanye West Kick Off National Outburst Week

No Comments | In: Barack Obama, Facepalm, Government/Law, Horrible horrible people, Music, Politics, Sports | tags: Joe Wilson, Kanye West, MTV Video Music Awards, Music, Serena Williams, Tennis, VMAs. | #

I go away for a few days and Wordpress goes and changes everything…including my avatar, which was formerly a photo of my adorable nephew. Weird. I’m still angry with the Mets right now, and do not prefer to have their logo represent me on Wordpress.

I haven’t been doing too much lately. Except for knitting. I’ve been doing a lot of knitting. And frogging. I’m never so OCD as when I’m knitting, and then I get this perfectionist streak that is completely at odds with the fact that I still don’t pay as much attention as I should to what I’m making. That’s because I need to watch something when I’m knitting.

Recently, I’ve seen 27 Dresses, Enchanted, Step Up (I’m a bit ashamed about that one), and I started Made of Honor, but I find the pratfalls a bit much and haven’t yet resumed from Dempsey’s second face plant in a single scene. I finished up the third and final season of Veronica Mars, and I’ve now moved on to Cupid, which I just learned is on youtube. How awesome. I remember loving that show, but the details are blurry at this point. I’m pleased that it’s as smart and funny as I remember, and that the wardrobe and hair isn’t so dated as to be a total distraction. I’ve also been really into Chuck lately, and it’s gotten so good that I even watch it before Gossip Girl! Heroes is still stupid, but not as single-mindedly moronic as it was earlier in the season, so I’ve resumed watching it on Monday, instead of allowing several episodes to pile up and then watching them all at once.

I’m about to be single single again (as opposed to mostly single), so that should leave me even more time to 1) make socks and 2) not make any of the Christmas presents I intended to knit.

I cannot believe how quickly summer/autumn happened, and that it will be winter in just a couple of weeks.

No Comments | In: Baseball, Chuck, Knitting, Movies, New York Mets, Sports, Things I like | tags: 27 Dresses, Christmas, Chuck, Dating, Entertainment, Knitting, Made of Honor, Mets, Movies, New York Mets, Patrick Dempsey, Wordpress. | #

So the Mets choked. Again. Some more. I am disappointed, but definitely not surprised. It came to me this morning that my team has become the baseball equivalent of the early-mid 1990s Knicks, which is pretty sad. They look promising, beat the teams that need to be beaten, and then make stupid mistakes that eventually prove to be their undoing. To say that the Mets have become the premiere choke artists of the MLB would be an understatement; I think they had that one sewn up in 2007. This has gone on for three years now, and it’s sad that expensive mediocrity has become the norm for the Mets. Well, now I can root for either the Red Sox or the Rays; the Sox have always been my preferred AL team, but the Rays have such a good story this year (despite the stupid name change).

But on to other things. While the Mets were in Flushing crushing the dreams of their fans, I was elsewhere in the borough, attending the Hispanic Heritage Parade in Jackson Heights. Satanski is quite obsessed with parades, so even though our connection to Hispanic Heritage is tenuous at best (his maternal great-grandmother was from Puerto Rico, and I’m the usual black American mutt), we went. It was pouring when we exited the subway and I was sure that the parade would be canceled, but we’d come all the way from New Jersey, so I thought we should check. How smart I am! A local traffic cop told me that the parade was still on and a few beat officers directed us to 37th Avenue. My nephew, who at 3 has a completely unfounded phobia about police officers, was quite impressed with their helpfulness and shouted, “Thank you, police!” as we walked to our destination. It was supposed to start at noon, but it was closer to 12:45 before it actually got under way. As you might imagine, the sounds and colors were amazing, and the parade really got going when the rain stopped falling. I went largely to see my belly dance teacher and fellow students perform (to salsa music, which was actually a neat combination), but the kid was getting cranky and all paraded-out, so we left after they passed us by. I brought my smaller camera and did not properly charge the batteries, so I actually don’t know what kind of shots I got. I turned off review to preserve battery function and didn’t look at them when I got home, so I will go over and post those pictures when I get home after work (which might be delayed, as I just found out that Helen Wang is having a store closing sale and things are going for 80% off).

No Comments | In: Baseball, New York Mets, Sports | tags: Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Hispanic Heritage Parade, New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays. | #

Yesterday morning, my parents’ church was torn down to give way for a bigger, awesomer, more churchier church. They have well over 2,000 members now and that church was constructed to hold 400 (which, in 1948, seemed like a huge sum and was way more space than was necessary), so even with three services, they were struggling to seat people comfortably and safely. I went with the parents and Satanski to see the demolition, and it was a pretty interesting experience. I attended that church for my entire childhood, and spent countless hours with a lot of the people I saw at the demolition. I’m no longer a member there, but I have mostly positive memories of the congregation and the times I had there. I’ll admit, it was nice to be fawned over and to have people tell me how nice I looked and how great it was to see me. Weird, since I don’t often think about a lot of those people, but nice all the same. I do go to church every now and then, and it’s nice to know that there’s a place where people think of you, miss you, and wish you well. I wondered what kind of reaction I’d have to the demolition, but I have to say that I really don’t feel anything at all. Some people did cry, but to me, it’s just a building, and the congregation is staying together while it’s being built, so it’s not exactly the end of an era. It’s probably wrong to bring baseball into this discussion, but that’s also why I don’t care so much that Shea Stadium is getting thrown over for something younger and prettier. Actually, now that I think about it, I might mind that more, because it will soon cost me more than it already does to get into a Mets game, and I’ll probably still end up leaving with that same sense of disappointment that I’m feeling right now.

The first thing the demolition crew did was to remove the church’s cornerstone. Or, they tried to remove the cornerstone. What was supposed to start at 7:30 and take no more than an hour started at 8:30 and took at least three hours. Apparently the chuch wasn’t built by professionals, and it seems that they overcompensated and made sure that everything was in there real good. That rings true; when one of my  college classes visited the Habitat for Humanity headquarters in Georgia, the person who with whom we met told us that Hurricane Andrew showed that HfH homes were more likely to withstand hurricanes than homes built by professionals, because (motivated, but largely untrained) volunteers always used more nails than was strictly necessary and therefore built sturdier homes. A couple of guys were still working on that at the front of the church while the rest of the crew starting knocking in the roof and the back of the church. I had been told that there would be dynamite, or some other explosive agent used, but that turned out to be a dirty lie. They just used one of those excavator things to keep knocking stuff in. We didn’t stay for the whole thing, because I had to get to work in the afternoon and also watching a building get knocked in doesn’t stay exciting for long, but we were told that, by the time the crew called it a day, only one wall and the front steps remained.

No Comments | In: Baseball, New York Mets, Satanski, Sports, The Fam, Things I like | tags: Churches, Community Baptist Church, Demolition, Englewood New Jersey, Habitat for Humanity, New York Mets. | #

I think it might be..yup, it is…ladies and gents, I have hope. Hope that my stupid Mets can stave off their inevitable collapse long enough to make it into the post season. They beat the Cubs tonight, which is great, since the Cubs are kicking butt this season. I’m looking forward to that colossal choke as well. Also, it’s official that the Yankees cannot possibly make it to the postseason, so I’m pretty freaking happy right now.

No Comments | In: Baseball, New York Mets, Sports | tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, New York Yankees. | #