Saturday is the grand opening of a new store in Berkeley devoted entirely to hot sauce. I will most definitely visit this place; I love hot sauce in all its formulations. I usually have 4-5 bottles open at any one time, just to have the right sauce to pair with the right meal.
Also, remember that folks are more than welcome to join the Upgrade family in the usual tailgate spot on Opening Day. Use this as a base of operations from which to branch out and attend the massive Let’s Go Oakland opening day tailgate with bands and wrestling if you like (that’s where wacchampions and the famous Ralph will be holding court). I’ll start setting up my gear near the end of parking Row 14 (here) around 2:30 or so. I’m seeing this as a casual show up and hang out affair, BYO everything, no need to RSVP or coordinate dishes etc. I’ll keep a grill or two burning at all times.
I don’t much care for the Alicia Keys song. I prefer ISA. Coco and Reddick and others seem to agree:
Ill bring my chicken for the grill
“We are high speed rail. Fuck you.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/california-high-speed-rail/ci_22885008/california-high-speed-rail-sues-everybody-invites-people
Holy misinterpretation, batman.
Validation actions are not anywhere near as unusual as that guy thinks they are.
wait. you are saying a reporter over stated something?
That tortured phrasing tells all you need to know about how this reporter and/or editor was trying to shape the facts to fit an angle.
Brad Peacock made the Astros rotation and will make his AL debut against the A’s.
That is some rotation the Astros have going. Norris, Harrell, Humber, Peacock, Bedard
This is good for my keeper league.
I did not get dc job
Crap. Sorry man.
Aw man, sorry to hear that. On the plus side, you get to hang out with us more?
bummer. yay more dfa around here
Im applying for some other stuff too. but it is disappointing.
Sux. There’s always a next time though.
sorry to hear that. there is another one around the corner, for sure.
Rats.
Sorry to hear it.
Sorry man. I still say that a DC job is in your future.
They did offer to send my resume to and put in a good word at the other body that does what they do
They are idiots and you shouldnt want to work for them. The inverse of the old “I’d never belong to a club that would have me as a member”…
Sorry DFA :(
That sucks. Sorry.
Their loss. Something better will pop up in due time.
Best notify your next of kin, This grill shall explode?
It’s a perfect (Hannah) Storm!
Yet another reason I insist on charcoal for my grilling.
Another one bites the dust. In fact, I don’t see how they could’ve done anything differently – this guy appears to be suffering from guano-induced neurosis.
Does anyone have two extra seats stashed away for opening night? I wanna take the new bf, who demands to be turned into a rabid hardcore like the rest of us, bleeding green and gold and gaffling Giants fans on the BART for their sushi money.
Regarding #1, there was a hot sauce shop near my house in seattle that I didn’t go to enough before it closed. Take advantage
Yes, I have my doubts about the sustainability of the business model. Will definitely visit sometime in the first month.
The one in Seattle was doomed by its timing, late 90s opening on a trendy block in a trendy neighborhood. You gotta sell lots of $2 bottles to make rent.
Yeah, most normal people, even those of us who like hot sauce, just don’t go through it that quickly.
Also, that’s not really a great location for foot traffic.
Maybe they can merge with the sour beer place to form one viable business.
I would certainly frequent that establishment.
and for a “local couple” he has a strange way of supporting the local team
Also, the lady co-owner is quite attractive. I think we should send DFA on a mission to buy hot sauce and pry her away from her dorky boyfriend.
There is such a place in Myrtle Beach. I think it survives by selling $10 bottles of Cholula to Midwestern rednecks who think La Victoria is exotic.
I wonder if the A’s buy TJ surgeries in bulk? Fernando Rodriguez the latest.
What if Lew secretly owns the medical facilities where the surgeries are performed and it’s actually all an insurance scam?
I’m kind of assuming he does and it is.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/28/red-sox-place-stephen-drew-on-concussion-dl-option-daniel-bard-to-double-a/
Not that he would have been concussed if he were in camp with the A’s, but who are we kidding, he would have been hurt in some way
Daniel Bard to AA? What the hell happened there?
Red Sox tried to make him a starter last season and he had a K/9 of 5.76 to go with a BB/9 of 6.52(!!!) for a mercifully brief 59 IP. With a minimum of 50 innings, the only pitcher with a worse FIP in 2012 was Jonathan Sanchez (LOLRoyals).
And while it’s just 8 innings in Spring Training, I don’t think the Red Sox are very impressed by 4 BB and 2 HBP. 10 Ks though.
He was my secret weapon from the draft this year (RP with SP eligibility). I guess he will remain a secret
He could get good again, if he ever finds the strike zone.
Yeah, he’s up there among my worst picks in my long-term keeper. I picked him high as a young, talented potential SP with closer as a fallback.
Now he’s a dead spot on my roster with too many innings to demote to the minors.
Even though the Red Sox get to demote him?
Yeah. My league only allows rookie-eligible in the minors
Same with mine. Correct choice in my opinion
Paid Seat Upgrade (via grant, the bastard http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/3/26/4148858/brewers-ticket-plan-chance-2-advance)
http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mil/ticketing/advance.jsp
That’s… rather clever actually.
melinda’s.
and that home-made stuff from sophia cafe.
Bad news for Dallas
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/28/johan-santana-has-probable-re-tear-of-shoulder-capsule-likely-needs-another-surgery/
Sounds more like bad news for the Mets and so-so news for Santana.
dallas had the same surgery
I know. He also has his own shoulder too.
The Giants way has worked pretty well for them. I’ve read the Yankees clubhouse is similar. I think it’s probably best for a clubhouse to reflect the personalities of the players in it.
shush you! They suck and we rule!
Shush you!…is probably the best response to all my posts.
darn, I got the capitalization wrong then…
It works either way.
The personalities or lack thereof.
Apparently hoops Cinderella extraordinaire Florida Gulf Coast University is a start-up university built on a free market ideology where all first-year econ students must read Atlas Shrugged.
Now I have another reason not to root for them
As long as they continue to promote a free market in sick alley-oop dunks, I’m OK rooting for them.
Sure. However it is a huge business with lots of revenue generated. I’d like them to throw quite a few dunks and then lose
I don’t even know where to start.
My job is done. Literally, by that logic, my job is over. Because all of the entities subject to the policies I/my colleagues enact would do the right thing if left on their own.
It’s clearly what has happened whenever and wherever that policy has been enacted.
Found the article here. Skimming through it, the description of article above doesn’t entirely capture what she’s saying and I don’t entirely disagree with her on some points – clearly defined property rights can lead to improvements on a more global scale – in other words, as there is a clearer demarcation of forest ownership, you will have less deforestation because you won’t have (government/industry/military/ag) coming through and raping the forest. So, if you’re starting at (measure of environmental quality = very low), you can make larger marginal improvements by clarifying property rights if they don’t exist.
However, that’s not gonna get you all the way there, in most cases. Which is why we need regulations.
She also notes correctly that it doesn’t work for air, since you can’t adequately define property rights for air.
who buys land for land’s sake though?
I think it’s more along the lines of post-soviet land transfer. When land was nobody’s, it was a prisoners’ dilemma in which no one had a motivation to protect the land. In some circumstances (Ukraine comes to mind of the places I’ve been/studied), land transfers in mixed land/forested areas came with both more secure property rights and a better sense of stewardship. Of course, all of this requires some semblance of rule of law that would enforce property rights (and appropriate regulations).
Fantastic article on the McCarthys
That was good. Also:
The photo is pretty perfect. Hobbes loves the camera!
No doubt it has a heated seat, and a facility for “anal washing”.
Cos who wants a Westie with a dirty bum?
I so want a robotoilet. These base-model porcelain cans leave much to be desired.
I learned a new word today. From Buzzfeed of all places. Not sure it is particularly apt here though.
Loved it. I want to watch Brandon’s TV show.
LOL
Anybody recognize who Manny Ramirez on this picture is?
All black people look the same.
So the new leadership my group has moved into met for the first time yesterday. all day stratgy session to determine the structure and go forward plans for our organization. So far we have one concrete piece of feedback from those meetings. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE APPROPRIAATELY BRANDED WALLPAPER ON OUR COMPUTERS!!!
Good news-it isnt just a generic logo-they have a few different things to choose from, including some good shots of baseball stadiums and sports logos. Being the official bank of lots of stuff has it’s advantages.
Bad news-I can now choose from things like the Cowboy’s star, Yankee Stadium, Chavez Ravine, or AT&T park. I may just askif I can have blank screen with the logo..smh.
WTF?
Would photoshopping a nuke going off in Cowboys Stadium be considered appropriate?
As lame as it sounds I actually sent an email to our “branding” people to ask them if they need help getting the other logos and/or stadium shots completed. And am seriously considering just making my own pirated version with the Coli.
But yeah-the thought of adding a missle flying into AT&T has crossed my mind.
The warhead needs to be of a low-enough yield to spare the Coliseum. Or for that matter, the rest of the East Bay.
Maybe just a Cruiser sitting in McCovey cove lobbing shells into RF…
True story – A WWII Japanese sub was all set to bombard SF on Christmas Eve 1941, but they were ordered away a few hours before the attack was scheduled.
interesting. For what purpose I wonder?
because captain wild bill kelso. i saw it in a documentary.
or, actually,
17 December 1941:
The I-15 surfaces around midnight near the Farallones to recharge her batteries. Her crew is given a chance to see the lights of San Francisco.
22 December 1941:
Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, CINC, Combined Fleet, postpones the Christmas Eve attack until 27 December.
27 December 1941:
Most of the I-boats off the coast have depleted their fuel reserves. The Naval General Staff decides that the shelling of densely populated areas, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, will result in civilian losses and retaliation by the Americans. Vice Admiral Shimizu cancels the shelling.
http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-15.htm
if it wasn’t in this documentary, I don’t trust the info
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JdUCu-A7tgg” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>
it’s the same link!
I have a bad habit of stepping on people’s lines.
I confess I didn’t fully read and open links in your comment before charging ahead to my gag.
Mea culpa mea culpa mea maxima culpa
i was just surprised we came up with the same one. just proves my personal aphorism: the world’s not small; its paths are narrow.
That’s a great link (the combinedfleet one, that is). A couple of things that are interesting. I-15 spent most of its wartime life chasing US Navy task forces, instead of interdicting merchant shipping (like the Germans did). The Japanese Navy consistently mis-used their sub force in this manner.
That being said, had they been successful at their mission above, the history of the Guadalcanal campaign would’ve been significantly different.
They could use the atomic cannon!
Ryan Sweeney did not make the Red Sox:
Swingle.
swad.
Maybe he should grow a beard.
Poor RyBear.
Bailey’s not the closer, Swingles DFA; and we have a cost-controlled above average starter in RF. FKing A.
The other Football
The otherfootballFixed.
Fair play to you.
Nothing like putting the interests of
your constituentsyour chance for reelection ahead of justice.I think someone just got a better shot at reelection
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/steven-brooks-arrested-nevada-assembly.php?ref=fpblg
Also, this is welcome.
R.I.P. Talk of the Nation
Fixed that link for you
Thank you, kind sir.
I really like that show.
I have like it, but ATC and Top of the morning to you or whatever its called have really soured me on the NPR products.
PRI and local stuff is alright though.
I heard that this morning. It’s always weird when NPR reports stories about NPR. Fortunately, Science Friday remains.
It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, since call-in shows are relatively cheap. But I have a theory. I blame cell phones. It’s getting harder to do good-quality phone interviews. Shitty cell phone audio is fine when you’re talking to your friends….you know what they’re supposed to sound like and you know much of what they’re going to say, so you can fill in the blanks. But without that context it becomes much harder to listen to. In the pre-cell-phone days, if we got a bad phone line, we asked the guest to take the mouthpiece end of their phone and knock it firmly on a hard surface, like a desk or table, a few times. This usually worked, and even if it didn’t it impressed the hell out of the guest. Can you imagine having someone tell you to take your iPhone and whack it on your desk?
It’s bizarre that the one thing cell phones don’t do well is the phone part.
Call-in shows should follow TV news’ example and just read out people’s innate tweets instead. /sarcasm
right? we can start a list of things that seemed something technology would improve but have normalized at SO not up to our previous standard at all. the cell sound. compact fluorescent light. compression flurries in digital TV. mismatched aspect ratios…
I think poor cell phone sound has driven me to text more than any other reason
No kidding. I really can’t understand people half the time on a cell phone…and that’s my only phone.
Digital landlines aren’t as clear, IMHO, as analog lines were.
Okay, old mad.
or old man…whichever works for you.
Both.
The Nexus 1 actually had a really good phone, I miss that.
So, this time next week I’ll be in EC’s time zone.
Me too (from Monday).
Where is each one of you going to be?
Noordwijk aan Zee, Amsterdam and Paris.
What is there in the first one?! Or is it vacation?
The European Space Research and Technology Centre.
What is this “vacation” of which you speak?
Paris, Avignon, Barcelona, and Madrid.
cool
I’ve been to other parts of Europe, but this will be my first visit to these two countries.
Perhaps even soon to be three
Four when the Pope moves the vatican back to Avignon.
How likely is Catalonia to separate from Spain?
It’s difficult to gauge, but the public support (in Catalonia) is there. In many ways they act as if they already did, such as offering a lot of public service in Catalan only
I don’t know crap about Spain, but my sister lived in Barcelona and 1 important lesson she learned there is to never, ever make Franco jokes in Catalonia.
nice
That’s a great trip.
I sure hope so. Mrs doctorK kinda roped me into this trip. It was set up by the French and Spanish teachers at Willow Glen Middle School, so we’ll have to endure having some 8th-graders with us. Thankfully, the ratio is favorable – 8 kids, 7 adults.
Group of Death
Thanks, and go As.
Did you see the two saves Cech made today?
I didn’t. No cable, no illegal internet streams. I barely feel like a functional member of society.
Thanks, and go As.
Both here
Nice.
Also Demba Ba is so good…
Thanks, and go As.
Yeah – that was an astonishing finish.
but he does shit like that all the frickin time.
Crazy.
Thanks, and go As.
huh? the replay was yesterday? totally missed it. who the hell plays football on a monday anyway?
Sky TV
name seven countries that since beginning of 2007 never ranked lower than 15 on FIFA Rankings
Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, Croatia and either England or the Faroe Islands.
Six of the first seven are correct, Italy isn’t
Holland? They make it to the World Cup semis like every damn time?
Thanks, and go As.
yup
woooo!
Thanks, and go As.
I thought their dismal Euro 2012 performance might have knocked them down a bit.
totally off the top of my head…
argentina
brasil
germany
italy
netherlands
i’m pretty sure about those. these are my wildcard guesses:
england
spain
i say spain not really remembering how they played more than 6 years ago. and i’d say france but they had such a dip 4 years ago.
Spain spent most of that time in #1 and were never lower than #9
so italy’s wrong?
yes, albeit by a hair – they ranked at #16 for a while
and brasil is 18 right now??
IKR
I have to say I was surprised how high Croatia constantly ranks
I’m surprised how consistently high England rank, given how rank their play is.
Label your axes!
Good and Evil.
LOL
I know, this was just a quick extract after I got the data in my DB. I thought of adding the axis and numbers in PS later
This is the list of the countries that ranked #1 and the number of weeks they spent there
AAA 140
BBB 44
CCC 13
DDD 10
EEE 6
FFF 5
GGG 1
Can you guess them?
Brazil
Spain
Germany
Argentina
Italy
Portugal
Lichtenstein
Thanks, and go As.
#1, #2, #4 and #5 are right. Germany is on there, too. The other two are not.
this is also since 2008, right?
well, you gave me spain, so:
A spain
B italy
C argentina (i remember being #1 at some moment)
D brasil
E netherlands
F brasil
G uruguay (for copa america 2011)
brasil are so good they get in twice!
ha! that’s because i had germany in there and then i started switching things around.
he should have spelled it once with an ‘s’ and once with a ‘z’
roland barthes, is that you?
Sorry, no this is since inception of the rankings in 2003 and it is of course, number of months, not weeks
in that case, yes, brasil IS that good.
A those penta FKers
B spain
C italy
D germany
E argentina
F netherlands
G uruguay
To combine with what mikev guessed right:
BRA 140
ESP 44
??? 13
ARG 10
ITA 6
GER 5
NED 1
If it’s back to 1993 now, France for the missing 13
brasilitaly are so good they get in twice!I have no idea what you are talking about.
also it is since the inception, august 1993
I was going to swap out Lichtenstein for Vatican City.
Thanks, and go As.
you joke but… http://www.clericuscup.it/Index.aspx?idmenu=3592
he’s got them below ARG. i’m gonna guess france. (mostly i’m second guessing that EC meant 1993 rather than 2003.)
FK, of course it’s 1993, sorry. and yes, it’s France
—april 2, the only croatian i know who manipulates numbers like they’re just so much clay to mold truth out of (ok, fine, the only croatian i know, period.) suddenly shows interest in fifa rankings.
—april 11, fifa suddenly upgrades croatia 5 positions to 4th, and knocking on its historical best rank of 3rd, and threatens argentina next no less.
coincidence? perhaps… perhaps the most interesting coincidence in the world, i say.
Old man Beckham is playing for PSG tonight.
PSG was my knee-jerk pick when i found out they had gathered ibra, pocho, and pastore. plus beckham? i’m slightly scared for barca.
Where is PSG playing Beckham? I can imagine him as sort of a deep-lying playmaker, but Barca’s attackers will run right over him.
Parc des Princes.
Scary indeed, at this point.
That whole sequence was absurd though.
non-call offside traded for a dive call, and things are back to normal.
Ah, soccer.
minute 94.
Sir Alex Ferguson coaching PSG now?
You were saying?
i said, “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” and i’m surprised you didn’t hear me from europe.
Oh – I thought someone was gutting an elephant seal on my balcony.
pretty much.
don’t break my masche! (oh god, my masche is broken.)
and ibra was so offsides.
and where’s MESSI? did he sub out? i went to pee and he was gone.
wherever he is, why can’t they send sanchez there instead?
Pulled a hammy.
that’s not so bad.
tell that to anybody on the A’s.
Thanks, and go As.
it’s not shin splints!
Until I saw the comments below this one, I thought this was metal band.
heh
Posey on Giants for long time, lots of money
A lot of money for a catcher.
Shades of Mauer
Ooh, I like that.
HAHAHAHA
“Posey gets nine years.” Sounds like a prison sentence.
Like a prisoner, he has to wear orange.
win
If they really want to make the penalty severe, a panda hat is a must.
While watching the game last night it was pretty fun seeing shots of full-grown adults bored and shivering garbed in their ugly panda furries. Half were diddling their cell phones…
Lets do that with Yoennis.
Yes please.
A-door-able!
Hey llama, when you’re ready to move to a real city I’ve found the perfect place for you.
Payroll and salaries for every MLB team this year.
Fun(?) exercise: if you could raid any one team to take any of their players to add to the A’s roster for just the price of those players’ contracts, which team do you pick, and who do you take? Assume that you have to work within the A’s budget limitations, as we more or less understand them.
Oh man. I literally groaned seeing that Johan Santana salary figure. Hope that no-hitter was worth it.
I think Bobby Bonilla is making about $1.2 million this year, unless he and the Mets came to some settlement on that. Cot’s mentions Jason Bay but I don’t see anything about Bonilla.
The Rangers. Not sure who I’d take per se, but anything you take that you can afford will make them worse.
Andrus is still relatively cheap and if we could offload Nakajima for a low-level prospect, it would save on salary.
Angels because Trout alone trumps anything else.
Harper/Strasburg wouldn’t tempt you?
Yeah, I was leaning Nats. I could see an argument for Rays too.
In addition to Harper/Strasburg, the Nats also have Gio, Zimmermann, and Desmond at quite reasonable contracts, so there are other appealing players too.
Maybe, but not as much. Strasburg is an already-injured pitcher and Harper is universes away from Trout’s upside.
Hrm, universes? Not sure about that, Harper is pretty darned special too, most scouts project him for more power in the long run.
They could be really really small universes.
I knew our cosmologist would chime in!
Now we just need our cosmetologist to chime in on which player has the better makeup.
HARHAR!
One of our cosmologists.
Colin right?
yup
[ insert bad pun about ‘astronomical’ odds of two cosmologists on a third generation sports blog ]
cosmopolis?
In fantasy, the SBs make a major difference.
In reality, the defense does the same.
Either way, I’d much rather have Trout. Especially since Harper is getting paid already.
Dude, if there’s one thing I’ve learned around here, it’s don’t criticize Bryce Harper. There are some folks who get really butthurt if you dare suggest that he’s anything less than the greatest baseball player, and possibly greatest human, to have ever existed.
No, that’s how I feel about Giancarlo Stanton.
Well that’s because he is.
Agreed. I took him #2 overall in my keeper draft last year. Don’t regret it a bit (since Trout is a pure hindsight issue)
And dump Young?
Hi! Is this the right place to grumble about Grant Green?
Wow, his feed is worse than Anderson’s in its drudgery. At least Anderson has a dry humor. Mulder is just boring.
ESPN has come down pretty hard on some of its employees for their social media blunders. In that position I’d be boring and G-rated too.
I suspect he doesn’t need encouragement to be boring.
Yeah, that’s my read too. I’ve never seen Mulder be anything but bland in any setting. Even while pitching, actually.
Anderson’s twitter has gotten a lot better over the years!
He trained under the ultimate Twit Master; we will see how he does now that he’s forced to tweet on his own.
Looks like the Mayor is getting 2.5 more terms.
The pennant is ours!
And Barton replaces Paquette.
Favorite shitty ex-Athletic?
I wouldn’t say shitty, but non-star.
To use a baseball card term, they are “commons.”
That is the perfect description.
Agreed
A day in the life.
So who’s the last guy in the pen? Okajima, Figueroa?
I would guess Scribner or Ekstrom.
This doesn’t make much sense to me. Even if you think one of those guys is ever so slightly better than Blackley as the last option in the pen, it’s outweighed by the fact that Blackley could start in a pinch and Blackley is the only one who can’t be kept in the organization.
I don’t see the point of Otero. He can’t start and he’s basically another Ekstrom, Gordon, Justin Thomas type which of course the A’s already have a bunch of.
I hope he clears waivers and we see him in Oakland again before too long. Seems like someone will grab him though.
Yeah, I like Blackley in the swing man role, though he’s likely already plateaued.
That makes me want to cry. Then again, I’m sitting at a desk, and he was/is? cashing an MLB paycheck so…
If Neshek doesn’t make the team, the A’s standing as the most-metal team in MLB is in jeopardy.
for reals
I love the idea of an Eric Sogard blog. This feels way to gimmicky.
The concept is pretty awesome, but it reads way too PR. It also will be pretty unfortunate if he doesn’t stick around on the roster for long.
too
Try teaching a class on reproduction without using the word “vagina.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2300578/Tim-McDaniel-Idaho-High-School-teacher-investigation-saying-vagina-biology-lesson.html
nice
Oakland proclaims A’s Spirit Week, at which Mayor Quan, Bob Melvin, and Stomper posed precariously on the catwalk of the Tribune Tower.
Damn.
http://www.happyplace.com/15235/the-creepiest-easter-bunny-photos-ever-taken/page/1
Boston cops are hilarious
now i have boston’s finest by the F.U.’s stuck in my head and i can’t find a video of it.
The Bay Area will have a competitive congressional race next year, and for once, it’s in my district!