gonna go back in time

Some random observations that, for various reasons, never made it out of "draft" stage until now.

[June 15, 2007]
If you're going to play professional American-style football 'til your early retirement, better know the risk.


[April 29, 2007]
As the enchiladas are baking, I have GameCast on the laptop, the New York and Boston matchup. I love the stats it runs as you're waiting for the next pitch--but they're often contradictory. Seriously, how do you make a prediction when Manny Ramirez...

• Bats .692 against the current pitcher, Chien-Ming Wang
• Bats .263 against the Yankees
• Bats .069 after a 1-2 count
• Is 1/2 today

Which takes precedence?

(He flies out.)


[April 7, 2007]
Right now everyone's hot for the Mexican hotshots--Cuarón, Iñárritu, del Toro--and they should be. However, Korea's rising stars deserve their own limelight, especially Joon-ho Bong, director of The Host and Memories of Murder, a master of inverting and unraveling clichés.


[February 12, 2007]
A right-wing rant from the pages of the Chili's menu. (Here's why. Scroll to the end.)

We are steamed. Our beef: a lifestyle saturated with breasts, loaded with the original bottomless illness.

More risk, more cost. Guilt that mushrooms. Additional weight. Additional fire.

"Honey." "Hot." "Spicy." "Baby." Not tender, not sweet, not special.

We ask to be purified. Shredded and mashed. Battered until boneless, meatless. Healthy, for starters.

We hope this isn't an inconvenience. We're just trying to accurately communicate conditions.


[January 18, 2007]
What is the mathematical percentage of truth in the following descriptions?

• "Inspired by a true story."


• "Based on a true story."


• "A true story."

[January 10, 2007]
Not for the squeamish. And simply incredible.

Mehta said that he can usually spot a tumor just after he begins an operation. But while operating on Bhagat, Mehta saw something he had never encountered. As he cut deeper into Bhagat's stomach, gallons of fluid spilled out — and then something extraordinary happened.

"To my surprise and horror, I could shake hands with somebody inside," he said. "It was a bit shocking for me."