I Am Not Keith Hernandez

But this dude is, and the movie is very entertaining although it certainly isn't all exactly true etc etc.  The film maker (Rob Perri)'s site is here and has all the important details (basically it's a version of the truth mixed with some satire).


I'm Keith Hernandez from water&power on Vimeo.


Keith's wikipedia page is worth a look, and man that was some of the best of Seinfeld when he was on.

You can click through to a bigger and better version on vimeo proper.

I don't recall where I first encountered this little internet gem, but it's certainly a high light so thanks to whoever did bring it to my attention.

United Britain?

Every so often the difference between England and the United Kingdom and Great Britain comes up in conversation.  I'm not sure exactly why it does, but I am sure that I'm not the only person this happens to.  I'm also willing to bet that I'm not the only person who never remebers the details.  Until now I always headed over to wikipedia to sort it all out. 

From now on I'll be hitting play on this video when I need a refresher...



(via AKC on fb)

Read This Now - Wins Are A Silly Stat

You don't have to take my word for it though, Joe P lays it out so much better than I ever could...

After Wednesday's non-win -- Reyes made sure on this one by giving up back-to-back doubles to start the game and five runs in three innings -- reporters surrounded the man of the hour. The whole scene was bizarre. Hey, here's one of those kooky joke stats: What pitcher has made the most consecutive starts without pitching at least five innings and exiting with his team in the lead in a game that the team ends up winning?

And people make fun of BABIP. Sheesh.

This is a rare instance of RTN where we gave you the conclusion.  Joe P is the best sports writer working these days (and one of the better writers out there period) for my money, so make sure to check out how he tells the story.

Read This Now - Baseball Players Can Write

At least Michael Cuddyer can, he's been doing a column for Fox Sports North this season.  The only one I've read all of is his great tribute and goodbye piece to Harmon Killebrew...

Now, at that time, I didn't have the prettiest of signatures. As a matter of fact, it was downright awful. It was pretty reminiscent of an EKG that you would get from one of your physicals. You could make out the M and the C, but after that, it could have been Miley Cyrus who signed your ball for all you knew. Once Harmon was notified that the signature in question was mine, he told me that if he saw this ink spot go through the line again, he was going to walk away and stop signing. The only person the people would have been mad at if Harmon had stopped signing was me. From that moment on, I have made it a point to sign my autograph so fans can actually read it. Every single autograph I have signed since then, I have heard Harmon in my head saying, "If you are going to take the time to sign your name, you better make sure people can read it."

They're all worth reading though, and the column is probably a solid RSS candidate.

The Twins and Minnesota as a whole have sent Killer off in style.

Crossed Up

Don't worry we aren't doing anything we shouldn't with the streams, and these guys can do amazing things with a basketball...



As far as I know only Tim Hardaway actually had a name for his cross over, it's hard to top (or stop) the UTEP Two Step.

(via kottke)

Tax Cuts Increase National Dept

It's pretty simple math actually, and here it is in graphic form in case you don't like words...

Any serious discussion about reducing the debt load has to include not only avoiding tax cuts, but raising taxes on individuals and corporations that are paying well below their share.

(via TPM)

Barack Goes Home

The President is kicking off his European trip with a visit to Moneygall.  NPR has the real story which is nice but I really just want to remind you that...



NPR says the Corrigan Brothers are getting some new versions ready, a welcome home one and a re-election special - "He's as Irish as Riverdance, Guinness and Joyce. In 2012, there's only one choice!"

Common Sense

I'll just let Jon break it down for you (and O'Ridiclousness)...




p.s.: I have no idea why a fan of fox news would have posted the video.


(via DB on fb)

Rivalries

They are an integral part of sports and the Red Sox - Yankees one is right up there in its notoriety, especially for the fans.  Big Papi is kind of irresistible though...



I have some friends who kept ending up at parties with him a while back and they swear he really is that friendly and charismatic.

(via Hard Ball Talk)

Read This Now - The Internets Are Here

This is a late breaking Read This Now, a Read This Now If You Haven't Already if you will.  I'm catching up on New Yorker's from the spring so there may be a few more of these in store as well.

Cutting the chatter though, if you didn't get a chance to read Adam Gopnik's take on the Internets and the range of books and prognosticators take's on whether they make life better or worse in the Anniversary Issue way back in February you should take some time to do so.

He breaks them out into three categories; the Never-Betters (the internets herald a new utopian age), the Better-Nevers (the internets are destroying civilization as we know it), and the Ever-Wasers (there's always something like the internets happening).  Among the most interesting tidbits were the comparisons to other new pieces of technology and the reactions that they spawned before becoming accepted pieces of everyday life.

The odd thing is that this complaint, though deeply felt by our contemporary Better-Nevers, is identical to Baudelaire’s perception about modern Paris in 1855, or Walter Benjamin’s about Berlin in 1930, or Marshall McLuhan’s in the face of three-channel television (and Canadian television, at that) in 1965. When department stores had Christmas windows with clockwork puppets, the world was going to pieces; when the city streets were filled with horse-drawn carriages running by bright-colored posters, you could no longer tell the real from the simulated; when people were listening to shellac 78s and looking at color newspaper supplements, the world had become a kaleidoscope of disassociated imagery; and when the broadcast air was filled with droning black-and-white images of men in suits reading news, all of life had become indistinguishable from your fantasies of it. It was Marx, not Steve Jobs, who said that the character of modern life is that everything falls apart.

Be sure to read the whole thing, and maybe even pick up a couple of the books he mentions.  There are also a number of multi-media tie-ins to the piece most of which you can find here.

Maybe Something Good Will Come From The Republican Presidential Canditates This Time Around

They make for good entertainment at least...



Also this was fun: