When all the others were away at Mass
I was all hers as we peeled potatoes.
They broke the silence, let fall one by one
Like solder weeping off the soldering iron:
Cold comforts set between us, things to share
Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.
And again let fall. Little pleasant splashes
From each other's work would bring us to our senses.
So while the parish priest at her bedside
Went hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying
And some were responding and some crying
I remembered her head bent towards my head,
Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives-
Never closer the whole rest of our lives.
I attempted to read this at my grandmother's wake, unsuccessfully.
Trump wins.
Biden claims the election was stolen.
Thousands of Antifa and PussyHats storm the Capitol.
The OT lefties claim it's not an insurrection.
David Thornton writes 3 Trump articles a day for the next 4 years.
Trump is impeached 7 times, three of them after he drops dead of a heart attack in 2026.
President Nikki nukes Iran and Syria.
Apparently, only members of Gen X believe our Winona ended up with the right guy because being a "sell out" was the worst thing anyone could be in the early 1990s.
This was a whole chapter in Chuck Klosterman's book "The Nineties". Fun read.
Perhaps it was just an outer-borough New York thing, but you'd be hard pressed to find a record collection in the late 70s that did not include the Saturday Night Fever album. When I think of soundtracks that capture the zeitgeist of their time, I think of that one and The Graduate. And maybe Singles, to a lesser extent.
Not nearly as ubiquitous, but the Garden State soundtrack was probably one of the last to be a huge seller (before mp3s blew up the album).
Currently, I've created Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino playlists on Spotify. Like Scorsese, two directors that really get it when it comes to selecting songs that elevate a film.
I dunno. You definitely have to pick the right guy. But I'm convinced more young QBs are ruined than developed. The QBs drafted later in the first round into organizations who have a clue, demonstrably do much better than those that don't. They likely have better talent and a better coaching staff. Right now Stroud's early success is an outlier. But time will tell if he will be a star or if he's actually better than Young. No doubt they will be linked like Bledsoe/Mirer, Manning/Leaf, Winston/Mariota, Couch/McNabb, Goff/Wentz, Luck/RG3 and Lawrence/Wilson (gulp)
If you take your Washington squad, they have drafted 4 QBs in the first round since 1994 (Haskins, RG3, Ramsey, Shuler). While RG3 flashed for a season, they are all huge busts. Your best QBs in that time is Kirk Cousins (4th round) and then Gus Ferrotte (7th round). Weirdly, those guys were taken in the same drafts in which a first rounder was spent on a QB (Shuler & RG3).
Of course, my Jets are even worse at picking QBs. Their best is Chad Pennington selected in the 1st round in 2000 (one of 4 first round picks the Jets had that year). Of course, they could have drafted Tom Brady at any point, like the rest of the league. But they didn't.
You'd have better results throwing darts at names on a wall than you would taking the guys these respective teams have drafted.
I can only think of one example where one player selected in the draft enabled a dramatic turnaround. The 2012 Colts lost Peyton Manning to injury, the team imploded and they drafted Andrew Luck with the first pick in the draft, who took them to the playoffs the next season.
Disagree. I think this is sometimes true for the NBA where you can only play 5 players at anytime. One "generational" talent can change the fortunes of a franchise.
The NFL is an entirely different beast. If you want to turn around a franchise quickly, it starts with a good front office and a great coaching staff that can overcome inevitable roster construction mistakes and key injuries (see 49ers)
In terms of talent acquisition in the NFL, the best teams excel at selecting impactful players in the middle rounds of the draft year in and year out. They are good at developing those players And almost as importantly, they are excellent at pro scouting. Teams like the Ravens, 49ers, Rams, Steelers, Eagles, Chiefs and Patriots all have superior coaching staffs as a common denominator.
I agree with the author that assisting a family member vote is not fraud, but the practice of wholesale Ballot Harvesting is sketchy AF and should be outlawed. Just because there is no widespread proof of fraud in these ballot dumps doesn't mean that fraud didn't happen (what's the acceptable level of voter fraud?) nor does it guarantee that it won't happen in a material way in future elections.
If you are someone who cares about secure elections and having the losing side trust in the process, eliminating the practice seems to be an easy concession to make.
I don't know what kind of economic statistical gymnastics were done by the Treasury (sorry not the Fed, as I cited earlier) to conclude that purchasing power in the US is actually stronger than it was in 2019, so I am going to hold off on saying they are "right".
These are the same people that insisted Inflation was transitory when it was quite obvious to everyone else that it wasn't.
On “POETS Day! Listening to Seamus Heaney”
When all the others were away at Mass
I was all hers as we peeled potatoes.
They broke the silence, let fall one by one
Like solder weeping off the soldering iron:
Cold comforts set between us, things to share
Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.
And again let fall. Little pleasant splashes
From each other's work would bring us to our senses.
So while the parish priest at her bedside
Went hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying
And some were responding and some crying
I remembered her head bent towards my head,
Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives-
Never closer the whole rest of our lives.
I attempted to read this at my grandmother's wake, unsuccessfully.
On “The Joy Of Opening Time Capsules: 2024 Election Edition”
Link?
"
Trump wins.
Biden claims the election was stolen.
Thousands of Antifa and PussyHats storm the Capitol.
The OT lefties claim it's not an insurrection.
David Thornton writes 3 Trump articles a day for the next 4 years.
Trump is impeached 7 times, three of them after he drops dead of a heart attack in 2026.
President Nikki nukes Iran and Syria.
On “Nikki Haley’s Chance”
Neither is Jon Stewart.
On “My Top 25 Films Of 2023: One Critic’s Best Of The Year List”
I went into Maestro with low expectations and was sort of blown away. Especially by Carey Mulligan's performance.
On “On Movie Soundtracks that Don’t Suck”
As far as the soundtracks go, there is no argument.
The biggest track on RB was "Stay" and for that reason alone should be launched into the sun.
"
Apparently, only members of Gen X believe our Winona ended up with the right guy because being a "sell out" was the worst thing anyone could be in the early 1990s.
This was a whole chapter in Chuck Klosterman's book "The Nineties". Fun read.
"
Perhaps it was just an outer-borough New York thing, but you'd be hard pressed to find a record collection in the late 70s that did not include the Saturday Night Fever album. When I think of soundtracks that capture the zeitgeist of their time, I think of that one and The Graduate. And maybe Singles, to a lesser extent.
Not nearly as ubiquitous, but the Garden State soundtrack was probably one of the last to be a huge seller (before mp3s blew up the album).
Currently, I've created Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino playlists on Spotify. Like Scorsese, two directors that really get it when it comes to selecting songs that elevate a film.
On “Where Will Chris Christie Voters Go?”
To quote Bill Murray in the movie "Meatballs" ...
"It just doesn't matter! It just doesn't matter! It just doesn't matter!"
On “When Losing Means Winning a Better Draft Pick”
I dunno. You definitely have to pick the right guy. But I'm convinced more young QBs are ruined than developed. The QBs drafted later in the first round into organizations who have a clue, demonstrably do much better than those that don't. They likely have better talent and a better coaching staff. Right now Stroud's early success is an outlier. But time will tell if he will be a star or if he's actually better than Young. No doubt they will be linked like Bledsoe/Mirer, Manning/Leaf, Winston/Mariota, Couch/McNabb, Goff/Wentz, Luck/RG3 and Lawrence/Wilson (gulp)
"
If you take your Washington squad, they have drafted 4 QBs in the first round since 1994 (Haskins, RG3, Ramsey, Shuler). While RG3 flashed for a season, they are all huge busts. Your best QBs in that time is Kirk Cousins (4th round) and then Gus Ferrotte (7th round). Weirdly, those guys were taken in the same drafts in which a first rounder was spent on a QB (Shuler & RG3).
Of course, my Jets are even worse at picking QBs. Their best is Chad Pennington selected in the 1st round in 2000 (one of 4 first round picks the Jets had that year). Of course, they could have drafted Tom Brady at any point, like the rest of the league. But they didn't.
You'd have better results throwing darts at names on a wall than you would taking the guys these respective teams have drafted.
"
None of the creme of the crop guys you mentioned were the first Qbs taken in their respective drafts. None of them were taken with a top 5 pick.
Tanking played no role in them being selected.
"
I'm glad you brought up Stroud. If the Texans tanked properly, they would have picked Bryce Young. CJ was the consolation prize.
Proof positive why you may as well not lose on purpose. Nobody knows anything. Especially when evaluating college Qbs
"
It's not that some of them don't pan out.
It's that most of them don't pan out.
https://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/positions/qb
"
I think I broke ChatGPT 4.0 asking it your question.
There have been 135 Qbs drafted in the first round since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
Currently there are only 13 QB who were drafted post-merger that are in the Hall of Fame. Of those, 7 were drafted in the first round.
This will dip below 50% when Brady and Brees go the HoF.
"
Well, here were the QBs drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft:
1. Baker Mayfield (Browns)
3. Sam Darnold (Jets)
7. Josh Allen (Bills)
10. Josh Rosen (Cardinals)
32. Lamar Jackson (Ravens)
Lamar is going to win his 2nd MVP award and every single team in the league could have drafted him if they wanted.
"
According to ChatGPT:
Slightly less than half of the Qbs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame were drafted in the first round of the draft.
There have been 30 Qbs drafted #1 in the draft and only 4 of them are in the Hall of Fame.
The bottom line, if you are picking a QB with a top 5 pick, you better be right or you'll be out of a job within 4 years***
***Unless your boss is Woody Johnson.
"
I can only think of one example where one player selected in the draft enabled a dramatic turnaround. The 2012 Colts lost Peyton Manning to injury, the team imploded and they drafted Andrew Luck with the first pick in the draft, who took them to the playoffs the next season.
"
Disagree. I think this is sometimes true for the NBA where you can only play 5 players at anytime. One "generational" talent can change the fortunes of a franchise.
The NFL is an entirely different beast. If you want to turn around a franchise quickly, it starts with a good front office and a great coaching staff that can overcome inevitable roster construction mistakes and key injuries (see 49ers)
In terms of talent acquisition in the NFL, the best teams excel at selecting impactful players in the middle rounds of the draft year in and year out. They are good at developing those players And almost as importantly, they are excellent at pro scouting. Teams like the Ravens, 49ers, Rams, Steelers, Eagles, Chiefs and Patriots all have superior coaching staffs as a common denominator.
"
Draft picks are just lottery tickets.
Shiny new can't miss rookies are a lot of fun until the games start.
On “What’s a Christmas Movie?”
The Passion of the Christ is a truly brilliant film. One of the best made in the last 20 years.
"
His other public "distractions" don't help either.
"
Good call. It could have been a much longer list.
On “Rasmussen’s Cheaters”
I agree with the author that assisting a family member vote is not fraud, but the practice of wholesale Ballot Harvesting is sketchy AF and should be outlawed. Just because there is no widespread proof of fraud in these ballot dumps doesn't mean that fraud didn't happen (what's the acceptable level of voter fraud?) nor does it guarantee that it won't happen in a material way in future elections.
If you are someone who cares about secure elections and having the losing side trust in the process, eliminating the practice seems to be an easy concession to make.
On “It’s The Economy, Stupid, But That Depends on Your Definition of “Economy””
I don't know what kind of economic statistical gymnastics were done by the Treasury (sorry not the Fed, as I cited earlier) to conclude that purchasing power in the US is actually stronger than it was in 2019, so I am going to hold off on saying they are "right".
These are the same people that insisted Inflation was transitory when it was quite obvious to everyone else that it wasn't.