Remembering Michael Jackson, Part 7
2009-07-02 23:58:12



Rest in Peace.




Remembering Michael Jackson, Part 6
2009-07-01 23:43:01


It could seem so complex and mysterious to understand why he was sometimes so strange to us, but if you listened to this song, you could hear it plainly from him, and you could see that it was actually very simple.

People say I'm not OK
Cause I love such elementary things.
It's been my fate to compensate
For the childhood
I've never known.




Remembering Michael Jackson, Part 5
2009-06-30 21:16:16


Amidst all the questions, doubts and accusations surrounding him, it seems no one (even his family?) could ever claim to fully know and understand Michael Jackson. But say what you will about him, you have to believe that when he sang about making the world a better place, his passion, desire and hope were sincere.




Remembering Michael Jackson, Part 4
2009-06-29 21:33:42


My personal favorite MJ video. The look is so slick, it's wall-to-wall great dancing, and it gave us the patented (for real!) anti-gravity lean.



Remembering Michael Jackson, Part 3
2009-06-28 23:00:47


I was going to post something from Jamie Foxx's opening of the BET Awards tonight, but I came across this, which was even better.



Remembering Michael Jackson, Part 2
2009-06-27 21:17:18


Yeah, it's a lipsynch. Who cares? That moonwalk is no camera trick.



Remembering Michael Jackson, Part 1
2009-06-26 19:41:09


I feel compelled to share some of my favorite memories of Michael Jackson, who was quite simply, and without hyperbole, the greatest performer I ever saw. I might post these for a week, I might keep it chronological, or I might switch it up.

Starting at the beginning, when he was so pure, physically and emotionally.



Homerun? Not even close.
2009-05-27 22:54:12

This was not even close to being a homerun. Check the comments; that clever "jam2" guy has it figured out.

Update with snapshots:





The arrows show the ball and the path it took on the replay. If it had hit the sign, any angle would show the ball passing directly in front of the impact point, i.e. the lines would intersect in front of the sign. They don't.

Ode to Johan
2009-05-22 22:39:09

I tweeted about this, but this deserves more than 140 characters.

Johan Santana threw 7 innings tonight and allowed 3 runs, 2 earned. Doesn't sound that special, in fact his ERA went up, and yet it was one of the best pitching performances I've seen in a long time.

The First Inning:
- After a lead-off single, David Wright can't handle a would-be double play ball (a hot shot right at him, but E5). 1st and 2nd, nobody out.
- Santana strikes out Ortiz, strikes out Youkilis, and gets Bay to ground out.

The Third Inning:
- Santana allows a 1-out double.
- Santana strikes out Ortiz (again), strikes out Youkilis (again).

The Fourth Inning:
- A walk, ground out and double lead to 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, when Ramon Martinez kicks a ground ball at short (E6), allowing 2 to score and leaving a man on 2nd with 1 out.
- Santana gets a pop up from Lugo and a fly out from Ellsbury.

The Sixth Inning:
- A single and a pop out lead to a man on 1st with 1 out, when Ramon Martinez grabs a grounder but throws it wide of 2nd base (E6), leaving 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.
- Santana gets Lugo to pop up and Ellsbury to ground out.

Often, pitchers getting out of jams are described as "escaping". Tonight, Santana didn't escape. First, the "escape" tag almost suggests getting lucky, like you would wipe your brow and exhale. Not so for Santana. His work was full of determination and intent. The Red Sox didn't give him the outs, he extracted them from them. What's more, he wasn't "escaping" in that he wasn't saving himself. Most of the night, Santana was rescuing his teammates who made errors behind him. Less Harry Houdini, more Jack Bauer.

And boy was he pumped. You could read the determination on his face and in his walk. His scowl and his swagger were reminiscent of Michael Jordan's, back when he would refuse to lose, throw his team on his back and carry them. In the fifth inning, Santana hit Youkilis with a pitch with 2 out. The pitch was almost a strike, but Youkilis took his time walking to 1st, looking and talking at Santana. Santana wasn't having it. He snapped at Youkilis to get his butt to 1st base, and when he did, Santana proceeded to strike out Bay on three pitches. Santana pitched with emotion all night and channeled all of it productively.

Anyone who's watched the Mets this year (or last year for that matter) knows that Santana will not lead the league in wins, even if he leads it in ERA, but I hope Cy Young voters give him a chance, even though his team doesn't always.

p.s. In the 7th, Santana struck out Ortiz and Youkilis back to back, for the third time.

Jesus is an elephant.
2009-04-10 13:42:23

Stephen Colbert is my hero.

(previous weblog entries)