Coolest present ever!

Yesterday was our Christmas thing at work and one of my co-workers got me the coolest present ever! Actually this one might have been more appropriate, but I'm not complaining.

And to make things even better, I have now graded my last final exam of the semester! Now I'm off to make a stupid purchase -- dining room furniture. Grr! Details later.

Sad ...

The Caffeine household is once again down to just one cat. Yes, Emmylou (the sweet cat) is no longer with me. Kidney failure and probably lymphoma -- it was all very unexpected. Gumbo (the evil cat) has now outlived two sweet cats. Hmm, maybe that's the secret to longevity -- be meaner than hell!

Anyway, ... R.I.P. Emmylou. The Caffeine household is sad.

[Hat tip to Amy for the pic. Satisfied?]

Hall of What?

I've got more than my share of gripes about the MLB Players' Union, but did y'all see the recent boneheaded move by the Hall of Fame's Veterans' Committee? They voted to admit former commissioner Bowie Kuhn, but not former union head Marvin Miller. That's just stupid and, I think, spiteful. Miller had a MUCH larger (and better) impact on the game of baseball. Ever heard of free agency?

Anyway, Faye Vincent has an op-ed in the NY Times that shows, once again, how wrong it was for the owners to force him out as commish. Vincent simply loves the game and (this is what got him in trouble with the owners) he's interested in what is best for the game.

Miller presented the economic issues in baseball largely in moral terms. Kuhn was the lawyer who argued against change. Miller argued against evil. Guess which was more appealing?
[...]
The members of the committee that elected Bowie Kuhn and passed on Marvin Miller should feel ashamed. But they do not. They almost surely believe that Miller and the union won the war, but they refuse him the honor of his victory. This is a set of actions by little men making small-minded decisions. Electing Kuhn and Miller together might have been a tolerable result. But electing Kuhn alone is intolerable.

These are old men trying to turn back time, to reverse what has happened. Theirs is an act of ignorance and bias. I am ashamed for them. I am ashamed that they represent our game.

My favorite catch? 22 of course!

Here's an article about a new book that explores the strange circumstances that led to some of literatures most noted titles. It's not the stories, but the titles that this book tries to explain. For instance, why is it Catch-22 instead of Catch-18 (Heller's original choice)?

Well it turns out Leon Uris released Mila 18 shortly before Catch-18 was to debut, so they had to come up with a new number. So how'd they get 22?

A long process of numerical agonising began in which the author and his editor at Simon & Schuster, Robert Gottlieb, worked their way through the integers looking for the right formula. 'Catch-11' was one of the first suggestions, but was rejected because of the 1960 Rat Pack film Ocean's Eleven. Heller at one point settled firmly on 'Catch-14', but Gottlieb threw it out for being too nondescript. When 22 came up, Gottlieb felt that it had the right ring: 'I thought 22 was a funnier number than 14,' he told the New York Times Review of Books in 1967. Heller took two weeks to be persuaded.

"I thought 22 was a funnier number than 14." I love that line. And you know what? He was right; 22 IS a funnier number!

The article goes on to explain a title that's always puzzled me (The Postman Always Rings Twice) and how Jeeves became Jeeves. I'm undecided, but here's a link to the book.

So long

This makes me sad. My beloved St. Louis Cardinals apparently have released So Taguchi:

Outfielder So Taguchi has been released by the St. Louis Cardinals after six seasons with the team, according to MLB.com.

By cutting the 38-year-old Taguchi, the Cardinals made room on their 40-man roster to allow them to make a selection in Thursday's Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings in Nashville.

Sure, So never became the star he was in Japan, but Cards fans liked him. Heck, I liked him. Furthermore, he was a pretty good utility guy AND he seemed comfortable in that role. I'm not saying he should have been an everyday outfielder, but I doubt they'll do any better in replacing him.

On a related note, evidently Cards' manager, Tony LaRusa, is feuding again with 3rd baseman, Scott Rolen. I'll admit I'm biased in that I really like Rolen and I strongly dislike LaRusa, but this doesn't seem like appropriate manager behavior. Rolen's statement ["These are matters that I never discussed publicly and are matters that should have remained private," Rolen said. "I will not dignify Tony's comments with any response at this time."] seems much professional to me than LaRusa's sniping. Oh well.

Oh, I also see that Andruw Jones has signed with the Dodgers. I'm already hearing Braves fans complaining about their team letting Jones get away. I don't have a crystal ball, but I suspect NOT resigning Jones will be one of the smarter moves of the winter. I could be wrong, but I see Jones as a guy living on his past reputation -- both offensively and defensively. Again, that's just my opinion.

Well that's my take on news from baseball's winter meetings. Finals next week, then I'll be back to a more regular writing schedule -- maybe.

Good news/bad news

Super busy right now, but I did want to link to this editorial in the NY Times:

Voters on Sunday gave a split decision to two of the world’s most prominent and problematic authoritarian leaders. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, turned a parliamentary election into a referendum on himself and cynically manipulated a huge victory, undermining what was left of the independence of the Duma and Russian politics. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez’s latest and most outrageous power grab was rejected at the ballot box, offering hope that political competition there will now flourish.

Though I found parts of the piece a little "fluffy", it was a quick link that touched on both of the foreign elections (or maybe "election" in the case of Russia). Though long run I think Putin may be a bigger problem, short term I was more pleased by the defeat of Chavez's proposals.

Though I think Putin is dangerous, I at least think he's a smart, savvy, wily guy. Chavez, on the other hand, strikes me as simply nuts! He runs around the world insulting leaders he disagrees with and then threatens to take his ball home if anyone challenges him. Seriously, the guy threatened to nationalize Venezuelan branches of Spanish banks if King Juan Carlos didn't apologize for telling Chavez to shut up. He's like the kid with the rich dad who thinks he gets to make all the rules. I never liked that kid and I don't particularly care for Hugo.

Well back to work. I have to figure out how to teach hyposthesis testing in my last remaining day of class. Sigh.