- Vlad, Lackey, Figgins, Escobar, and Abreu are all FAs after this season (if I read Cot’s correctly)
- There’s been some talk that Arte may pare payroll from this year’s $114M
- Consensus seems to be that the Kazmir acq. meant they’re not re-upping Lackey
- There’s a couple of replacement options for Vlad’s bat on the open market this year
- I would think that the Rangers and M’s still don’t project especially well for ’10
- As we all know, the A’s don’t seem to have “contention” in their plans until ’11
So — what’s our consensus? Would we like to see the Angels:
Sidebar: should the A’s consider signing Vlad (to an incentive-laden 1- to 2-year contract) and/or Lackey? We’ll certainly have some cash free …
you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
The one thing I’d hate to see would be if they signed Holliday. They’re looking it bit weak in the medium term, and I don’t think what they do with FAs this offseason will change that a whole lot one way or the other. I see them as a major threat in 2011, after which the Rangers will probably be better. I’d like to see them re-sign Vlad. I don’t see him being much good in 2011 and it might prevent them from getting a better bat. I would actually feel pretty good if they re-signed that whole group, but they probably don’t have enough money for that.
Yeah, I should have clarified (though I think you, obviously, picked up on it and everyone else will): what are the most Gary Matthews, Jr.-esque ways the Slegna can hamstring themselves this offseason?
Stupid is hard to predict, though. Who would have thought they’d give all that money to GMJ?
It certainly made sense in retrospect, given the organization’s predilections. (Still stupid, obv., but internally consistent in a pathological sort of way.)
Have the Cardinals indicated either way about trying to keep Holliday? I hope that his brief time in the AL was such a disappointment that he will want to just stay in the NL forever. Maybe the Giants will get into the Holliday mix.
Everyone seems to be assuming that their stated commitments to other, more numerous and marginal, players will foreclose their ability to afford Holliday.
I’d love to see him on the Giants. Sabean doesn’t like actual good hitters, though.
I can’t imagine the cardinals let him get away. Do they not have the $$$ or something? He has to be loving life there.
I could see Holliday to NYY, and Damon to LAA.
that would be swell.
The Conversation is one of my 5 favorites of all time.
Clowns will eat you if they have the chance…
LOL
hmmm, that is a great concept for a remake…
The Clownversation
In which Gene Hackman tears up a circus trailer while searching for one of these…
1. I saw it for the first time not long ago. It is fantastic. If it were remade today, the low key approach to building tension/sketching out the protagonist would be abandoned in favor of Enemy of the State-like ADHD zip-bang action … oh. Right. Ugh.
2. It really sucks that John Cazale died so early.
3. Every movie should be set in the seventies.
1. I still say De Palma outdid it (and Antonioni) with Blow Out
2. Another Obie!
3. Agreed. My magnum opus screenplay is set in the ’70s … well, the opening frame is set in the ’70s, before it flashes back to the ’50s.
I would like to have lived in San Francisco in the ’70s. Or the ’50s.
Tough to avoid Douglas and Malden running around, though.
Not to mention Zodiac, the Zebra Killers, and Jim Jones.
damn, the seventies were even significantly cooler to be a serial killer in.
Ewww…
The NEJM recently published a study showing that there is a spike in epilepsy-related fatalities in years where a Tony Scott movie comes out.
“mushroom hunting trip to China with Ken Rosenthal” is way better than “hiking the Appalachian trail”
Dave Cameron is really an awful writer.
RIP, Illinois Nazi
Ah, I knew I recognized that name from somewhere.
R, Irving Kristol
(My half-clever neologism for the day: “nihiloconservatism”)
Doesn’t signing Lackey have to be a priority for them?
Weaver – pretty good
Saunders – pumpkin
Santana/Kazmir – impossible to predict, given their recent medical histories
The list of non-Lackey starters available via free agency is uninspiring: Harden, Marquis, Pineiro, Washburn …
Yes/no/maybe? I honestly have NO idea what sort of contract Lackey will get — from the Slegna or anyone else. I just don’t know.
Even if merely to drive up Lackey’s price, I’d think it would be a good idea idea for Beane to go after him. Not overcommit to something Zito/Hamptonesque, though.
I like pumpkins.
This. Of course, we do have a whole second starting rotation on the DL so maybe it isn’t the most pressing need.
Oh and: happy birthday, Sal.
cheese or font?
That’s infuriating.
I stopped after 15 or so, when I realized I had guessed on every one.
Beforehand, on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d have given my cheese knowledge a 1.5, and my font knowledge a 4. Further evidence of my inflated self-regard, I guess.
do you, at least, not suffer the added humiliation of working daily with several different fonts?
I scored a 61.2%. On an entirely different subject, did you know that 164 out of the 268 names showen are cheeses (or 61.2%). Entirely unrelated to my score mind you.
you have too much time on your hands.
Eh, I was at work. Waiting 6 hours for something that would take 3 hours to do, then squeezing it into an hour an half.
Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson/They’re all right/They never hurt anyone
When I was in college, I played:
– bansuri for Snake Research Academy
– hardanger fiddle for The Frisian art of Fierljeppen
– bicycle bell for The Libertarian Parking Garage Challenge
Oh, heaven forbid! I am one who delights in all manifestations of the Terpsichorean muse!
I always thought a terpsichorean was Kim Jong Il after a few too many Mai Tais.
You really should have been able to do better on that cheese or font thing.
tell me about it.
It’s quite sad, really.
A’s call up Matt Carson. They still really like Buck and Cunningham, they just don’t like like them.
(Mazzaro-> 60-day DL to make room.)
Hi, um Billy…this is Travis…we met at the laundromat a couple weeks ago and you gave me your number…remember? Yeah, that’s me! Blonde hair, kinda long, look like a stoner…so, anyway, I was wondering if maybe…you wanted to go out with me this weekend? Washing your hair, huh? Well, um, okay…well, if you, um…change your mind, um…hello? hello? hello?
Blerg. Can someone send Travis a “get out of jail free” card? Maybe that would help.
Or something like a WWII special edition British Monopoly game…
That is awesome. And it does seem appropriate for Travis’s situation.
And he’s starting in RF and batting 8th. Explanation: Sweeknee.
Geren goes righty-crazy with the lineup. No Cust, no Kennedy.
Just cause.
Leopold Bloom, here is a good DFW appreciation for you.
This is true, I think:
Yay! Now spread some love over for Chuck…
It was the best of Ray, it was the worst of Ray
Best:
Worst:
Him, you can hate.
But I don’t know that I’ve ever laughed harder than his column on the two guys who beat up the first base coach in Chicago five years ago.
So…
1. I want to be in the California Hall of Fame. But,
2. I don’t need a scholarship…
How should I proceed? Just keep on dreaming? Fill out a form?
For mk:
I just finished watching Fear and Trembling. It hit home on a lot of issues, so I have a lot to say. But it’s late, so forgive me if my thoughts are a bit jumbled.
I cringed when Amelie approached certain situations from a western point of view, completely clueless of Japanese social norms–because I’ve made many of the same mistakes. I’m certainly familiar with cultural missteps and being totally unaware of egregious errors. It was a bit hard to believe that she was completely unaware of some basic interactions. Then again, she did move away when she was 5.
It’s hard to walk the line of acting Japanese and being foreign. It’s all too easy to give in and assert my will as an American, where a Japanese person would just accept defeat and move on. In the western world, if something is unfair or doesn’t make sense, we find a tactful way to discuss it. In certain cases such as getting fees reversed from financial institutions, it’s even justifiable to show measured frustration. In Japan, if someone says that something’s difficult or impossible to do for a customer or coworker (even if the person just being lazy), people will give up and move on with life.
I recently went with my friend to set up a cell phone contract, and the company insisted that she show a credit card. I didn’t use one when I established my contract, so I tried to explain politely that I knew it wasn’t necessary. When the attendant kept insisting that it was, my demeanor turned unfriendly and I showed him the clause in the contract that allowed us to get by without a credit card. We had to escalate the situation to a manager on the phone, who explained to the employee that it was, in fact, possible.
A Japanese customer might well have given up. Then again, they would’ve just shown the credit card. It’s how everybody else does it, so why try to find another solution? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten funny looks for not doing things the same way that everybody else does–like bringing a full-sized towel to public baths instead of a tiny wash cloth. Or when we put our groceries directly in the shopping cart instead of inside a basket inside the shopping cart. Or how I blow my nose politely instead of hacking and sniffing. I constantly have to remind myself that it’s okay that everybody thinks I’m strange–I’m a foreigner, and always will be here. It’s important that I try to understand what makes people feel comfortable, but I can’t beat myself up over missteps that aren’t spiteful.
In the end, Amelie gave in to the Japanese way, willingly humiliating herself in front of Fubuki and her coworkers. It’s not generally acceptable to say what you really feel out here. Sure, that’s also the case in the western world, but much less so in Japan. Amelie’s socially unacceptable view of confrontation as a solution is definitely something that I can understand. In fact, it’s something that I’m currently battling in some of my relationships.
From what we can tell, she had no relationship outside of work with any of her coworkers. Rigid businessmen often like to go out to drink at night, and a bit of alcohol is often the only thing that’ll get them to open up socially and emotionally. As a non-drinker who would rather spend time with my family than hang out in a bar, I’ve got very few Japanese friends.
Feeling useless at work is something that many of my colleagues struggle with, but something that I have learned to embrace. Instead of lamenting the fact that most people–apparently unaware of the fact that I speak Japanese–will go out of their way to not have to speak to the foreigner, I instead appreciate that I don’t have to exchange pleasantries with people that I’ll never have any meaningful relationship with.
In all, I enjoyed the movie, and have a boat load of opinions about many other aspects of the movie. Anything you’d like to know?
I thought both Amelie and Fubuki were skillfully acted, by the way.
I cringed when Amelie approached certain situations from a western point of view, completely clueless of Japanese social norms–because I’ve made many of the same mistakes.
It’s smart, the way the film uses Amelie’s perfect Japanese to point out that language fluency is not remotely the same thing as cultural fluency; they bridged the language gap in order to underscore the immense understanding gap. In most “fish out of water in a foreign land” movies, language is either the central barrier to understanding, a catalyst for gags and laughs, or a way to signal suave assimilation. But here, Amelie’s fluency is either beside the point or a flat-out detriment (as in the scene where she serves coffee to the meeting attendees).
—————————————————————
You said earlier that the male boss caricatures were off-base. I wonder, then, about Fubuki. Specifically, Fubuki as career woman. If you replicated the same meticulous, efficient, beautiful (that counts, like it or not) woman in a present-day American corporate environment, it is fair to say that Fubuki 2.0 would rise through the ranks rather swiftly. In the world of the film, her ceiling seems soul-crushingly low, and she’s had to be perfect to get as far as she has (again and again, Fubuki’s steely calm is contrasted with the cartoonish ranting of her superiors).
Yet she never acknowledges sexism, even implicitly, and further, her performance/work ethic isn’t tethered to the (in her case, non) reward structure. Her excellence persists, despite the circumstances. You could read her viciousness towards Amelie as a sort of thwarted ambition catharsis; the delight in her eyes as she relishes Amelie’s acquiescence at the end has the quality of release, of a triumph out of proportion to that particular test of wills.
Odds are, though, I’m projecting this frustration onto her (as in, every woman I know would sure as hell be frustrated if they experienced the same disconnect between performance and promotion). Maybe she doesn’t see her corporate experience through the lens of sexism at all. I don’t know how she couldn’t, but, well, see the bit about understanding gaps above.
It’s interesting how simple some people perceive the art of communication. There are scores of classes and programs designed to help you speak a foreign language in just minutes a day, without any human interaction. It’s not only necessary that you speak with others, but it’s also essential that you observe how others interact–especially in Japan.
I found it realistic and depressing that they had no intention of making use of Amelie’s skill set. Many assistant language teachers in Japan with teaching experience and certification complain about how their skills are ignored or even rejected outright. It’s extremely common to be implemented as a human tape recorder. When I first got here, I sought to have as much influence as I could, until I realized that some of my coworkers felt the most comfortable when my role was as simple as possible. At the same time, many teachers (who are being forced to teach a language they don’t speak) are more than willing to step aside and let me teach, since it takes a huge burden off their shoulders. We never actually discuss this fact, but they do often compliment my confidence in the classroom.
When you consider that Japan’s business hierarchy is often more dependent on nepotism and tenure than merit, it can be even more depressing for women. High-level executives are almost exclusively male in Japan. I was actually shocked the other day when a colleague spoke of the female principal at his school, since it’s so rare to see a woman in position of power. And women are expected to drop everything to serve tea and snacks to guests. Many English speaking women are appalled to find that they are expected to do the same.
Sexism surely was in play, and Fubuki surely must have realized it. I’ve spoken with a few Japanese people about many such customs in Japan, and they are surprisingly aware of them. They reply that that’s just how it goes, and dismiss it with a shrug of the shoulders. They’ve consigned themselves to their fate, since going against the norms of their compatriots could equal career suicide. As the old saying goes, the nail that stands gets hammered down. It’s sad that women have to suffer just so that people can keep their tradition.
As a side note, the male caricatures weren’t completely off-base. They were definitely too loud, whereas, in my estimation, they should have been a bit more like Fubuki–cold and with rigid regard for the rules. The fat, laughing boss was a pretty believable character, except that he was a bit too loud. I’d actually say the same about Saito, Fubuki’s boss.
Private business is possibly much different from the government offices, where I work. Public servants, including teachers and most municipal workers, stay in a job for about three years before being transferred to a new post, often in a completely different section. The man in charge of international relations is Matsuyama was transferred to a position at the local water works company. How fluency in English and wonderful people skills inspire the higher-ups to give him a job overseeing the potable water system is beyond me. People spend just enough time in their positions to get proficient, and then they’re yanked out and put into a new environment. Few people ever become true experts in this system. I think that’s a shame.
Odd stuff in the Chronicle today:
1. Susan Slusser covers…the Sharks?
2. Bruce Jenkins wants that punk Stephen Jackson to get off his lawn. And apologize to the nation. But he’d still be a punk.
3. And the Saturday Datebook section, inexplicably, includes an article on the Sportsvision testing at AT&T Park to develop revolutionary FIELDf/x defensive assessment technology.
3. And why does Kuiper insist on calling the balls-and-strikes technology “pitchfucks”?
So, Mauer and Greinke, then?