Life In The Weeds

LinSANITY

Jeremy Lin is the new Tim TeBow.

Jeremy Lin is everything you want in a professional athlete.

Jeremy Lin is the Toast of the Town in New York.

Jeremy Lin is the NBA's first Asian American player.

Jeremy Lin is from Harvard, the first Ivy League player since 2002-2003 season.

Jeremy Lin is the only California high school player of the year to not receive a Division 1 scholarship.

Jeremy Lin is a 6'3" point guard...as a starter in the last three games, Lin is averaging 25.3 points and 8.3 assists

Jeremy Lin's Twitter account has added over 15,000 followers since Monday

Join the LinSanity!

mj

Honey Badger Day

So last week, Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair to "see" his shadow and declare six more weeks of Winter...

Meanwhile, his distant cousin, the Honey Badger, continued to rest comfortably knowing that for the next 51 weeks he will continue to not give a shit.

mj 

Why Do All Men Hate Tom Brady

You tell me!

mj

The Answer to My Deer Problem

It may not be an immediate fix, but it has long term potential.  All I need to do is order a Burmese Python and when it gets too big to keep as a pet, I'll let it slither off into the woods and become my Deer Eliminator...or, maybe just, Animal Eliminator.

Just ask the folks in the Everglades National Park down in Florida. In areas where the pythons have established themselves, marsh rabbits and foxes can no longer be found. Sightings of raccoons are down 99.3%, opossums 98.9% and white-tailed deer 94.1%, according to a paper out Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This 16 footer just put down a 75lb White Tailed Deer. Honestly, I would not mind a decrease in raccoons and ground hogs either.

Sure, there might be a safety issue.  Unless, we were to implant a tracking device in each Python we let loose into the "wild" of Elm Ridge Park.  I mean let's face it, Pythons are not the quickest, most agile things...so, they would not be difficult to track.  We could put their movements on the local Township TV Channel.  "Before you go outside and play kids, check channel 72 to see where the Pythons are at today"..."okay Mom, will do."

Sure, we would have a few casualties with pets and toddlers in the beginning, but once we realled honed the system, I think maybe this just could work!

mj

Moneyball - the movie

Good, solid movie.  I thought it moved a little slow, but even my wife enjoyed it.

The book was better (which is usually the case), as it went into lots more detail about Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and how he and Paul DePodesta (Jonah Hill) orchestrated a myriad of player moves to position the Oakland A's for success.

The Oscar nimoinations just were announced...and, while Moneyball was not up for Best Picture, both Pitt and Hill were nominated for an Oscar, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

Did Pitt and Hill turn in Oscar nominated performances?  No way!

I mean maybe Brad Pitt...MAYBE?  But, Jonah Hill?  I do not think he spoke enough words to qualify!  Isn't there a minimum?  Don't get me wrong, I like Jonah Hill (though, I like fat Jonah Hill better than skinny Jonah Hill)...but this is the first movie he has played where he did not crap hi pants or throw up on himself.

I'll bet the house that neither of these guys take home the hardware on Oscar night.

mj

1 Million Shares

Last week, Apple disclosed just how much their new CEO, Tim Cook, earned in 2011.

Cook's compensation included $900,000 in salary [rather average or even low compared to other CEO salaries], $900,000 in incentive pay [again, not to crazy, seeing he leads Apple!] and 1 million shares of Apple valued at $376.2 million at the time they were issued.  Yep, that's the kicker. ONE MILLION shares.

Apple's directors characterized Cook's stock grant as a "promotion and retention" award. Half of the shares will vest in 2016, the rest in 2021 if Cook remains with the tech giant.

Cook had previously filled in for Steve Jobs when the Apple co-founder had cancer in 2004 and in 2008, when Jobs underwent a liver transplant and went on extended leave. Apple directors rewarded Cook with a $5 million bonus and stock valued at $53 million in 2010.

Sure, Cook has big shoes to fill and a fair amount of stress to go along with leading Apple...but, clearly, money will never be an issue.

mj

 

Special Delivery

FedEx is taking it on the chin after this video was posted on YouTube...showing one of their drivers launching a computer monitor over a gated entrance of a Southern California home.

I know the FedEx guys are super busy this time of year, but holy hell, how about ringing the bell?   He does not appear to have anything on his mind other than the "chuck and run" method.

This technique could be rewarded if, let's say, he was coming in for delivery at 6:00am Christmas morning and the homeowner was on the other side waiting...with wrapping paper in hand, as junior was waiting patiently at the top of the steps...waiting to come down to see if Santa left him that computer monitor under the tree.

Otherwise...there is no excuse for this special delivery.

 

mj

Starbucks in Manhatten

It seems as though there is a Starbucks on every corner in Manhattan - after a little research, it seems like the "unofficial" number is 255.  If you type in Starbucks on Google Maps, the image displayed is a see of red dots.  Two hundred and fifty-five is a huge number...making the trip to find a good cup of coffee fairly easy.  That is, until you get inside one of these 255 stores.

Every Starbucks you go into is jammed.  Like 20 people-in-a-line jammed.  And, rest assured, most people on those lines are not ordering a regular coffee...it's all about the half pump, decaf, double shot, no whip, etc.  So, it is a long, long, tedious wait.

Is a cup of Starbucks coffee worth a 20 minute wait?

I went into a Starbucks this morning...looked at the line and bailed.  I walked to the corner and got a cup of coffee from the coffee cart guy.  $1.25 for a large coffee and NO WAIT.

The lesson here: Starbucks is not worth the wait and not worth the price!

mj

What's with the Suit

I feel bad for those poor bastards that commute into the city every day wearing the same exact outfit each day...a suit.

Sadly, most of those suit wearing gents do not even see clients.  So, who cares what they wear?

Wearing a suit to work should be long extinct...

Looking sharp to the client is all that matters and there are lots of ways to do that without putting on a suit.

mj

The Tattoo Craze

The Hells Angels no longer corner the market on tattoos.  In fact, for a while now, tattoos have become almost common place.  I grew up in a very conservative Catholic household and of the 6 children, 4 have ink...and for her 75 birthday, my mother got herself some nice artwork on her ankle.  Okay, so she probably does not fit neatly in to the demographic of folks getting tattoos, but it goes to show you that the stereotype of someone having a tattoo has been shattered.  

The most recent statistic I could find was that 25% of folks between the ages of 16-50 have a tattoo.

Certainly, major ink is on display with the athletes that we watch on television, both college and professionals.  Many of these kids (cause they ARE kids) don't just have one tattoo...they are literally covered in ink.  I do not have an official statistic, but my guess is that of the 10 players on a basketball court...80% are covered in ink.  It's actually challenging to think of a professional basketball player who does not have tattoo.

I have a tattoo.  A small one on my ankle.  I would get another one.  But, I just can not comprehend the idea of, literally, covering parts of your body.

It's not just hoops...all sports seem to be affected with the tattoo craze.  In fact, professional baseball just included two new clauses in the collective bargaining agreement dealing with tattoos.

• "no player may have any visible markings or logos tattooed on his body" as part of the uniform regulations.
• Players will not be allowed to display tattoos with corporate logos.

A corporate logo clause?  Would a player really go down that path?  I guess MLB thinks so...

Is this tattoo thing a craze or is it crazy?

mj