Bookish Thursday? ← FREE KRAUT!

Bookish Thursday? 278

So, seriously, what the hell do you people expect?

You expect me, Bloom, to get up here and discuss, seriously discuss sports?  Do any of you think I’m genuinely capable of doing that?  Do any of you think I’m at all interested in doing that?

I sit here and I stare at my books.  And for the first time in a long time, I have more space and more bookshelves than I have books.  When I went from California to Chicago, I had 15 boxes of books.  From Chicago back to California, I had upped it to 23.  When they went from California to Minneapolis, I cut pretty deep and got it down to 12.  They then got shipped, in the same quantity to Florida, where they shrank to ten.  I’ve got probably about 11 boxes worth now, maybe 12.  There’s a mystery box in the trunk of the Bloommobile.

Lately, because of poverty, I’ve been thinking I should sell some of them.  Poverty, plus the sheer absurdity of ownership.  My sponsor had a Buddhist master at one point, before he moved to the city to be a big time nurse.  The Buddhist master lived and worked in Sebastopol.  Phil had been to his house and it was one of the more remarkable things he had seen.  The only things he owned were things he touched and used on a regular basis.  How many things would I have left if I did that? Certainly not many books.

But books.  Books are different.  Books make me happy.  They bring back memories of who and what and where.  The way I hear other people describe music is how books are to me.

So, what would I get rid of?  The Bukowski’s probably been with me the longest.  It’s lived the life with me, through the gutter.  A few of them are actually stolen library books.  I think libraries have a difficult time keeping him on the shelves–drunkies tend to not be the most responsible of social groups.

Regardless of how much he enjoys sucking Bill Simmons, um…thumb, I love Chuck Klosterman.  I have everything he’s written, including a copy of Downtown Owl that apparently has gotten up and walked off.  Books are like that: they have a mind of their own.  I can’t tell you how many copies of Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting I’ve bought. Or Bukowski’s Women.  Or WG Sebald’s The Emigrants.

I can tell you that the Kundera book is probably my favorite book, followed closely by the book that gives me my screen name and Virginia Woolf’s The Waves.  But much like anything, it’s so dependent upon my mood, that to construct such a list seems ridiculous. James Agee’s A Death in the Family is poetic and beautiful, as is damn near anything by Zora Neale Hurston.

I suppose I could get rid of all my theory books.  They’re genuinely generally sought after, and I really have no fursther use for the masturbatory quality of literary theory.  People who are too smart for their own good, chasing ghosts down unlit halls and artificially inflating the consequences of doing so. It’s not fun for someone who doesn’t enjoy argumentation.  If we’re building something together, that’s fun, but if you just wish to build a castle and try to turn back the deluge, I’ve got other things to do.

There’s the Faulkner.  I like him, even though Joel and Ethan Coen have been rude to him, sullying his monkey memory.  Don DeLillo, who, like Thomas Pynchon, should not be ingested alone.  Tis my solemn belief that no literature (or any art, for that matter) should be consumed alone.  While we each are sentient beings and we can digest large chunks of literature, the multi-perspective only serves to further each of our own individual experience.  John Dewey believed that all learning was social, and my experiences thus far in life seem to support that.

JM Coetzee, who is South Africa’s modern day answer to Hemmingway–writes sentences so taut that they are spring-loaded.  Samuel Beckett, who can’t go on, but must go on. Marcel Proust, ever brooding on, ever reminiscing, joins Jorge Luis Borges (literature’s answer to AN’s AV).  Julian Barnes, who writes like he wants to be both Henry James and Lawrence Sterne, which is not an easy marriage, but Barnes pulls it off!

Then there’s Eudora Welty who inherited the title of best short story writer from Flannery O’Connor who inherited it from Chekhov.  When Eudora left, she quietly slipped the title to Alice Munro.   I love Fitzgerald and Primo Levi, and Shakespeare and Henry Fielding and Cervantes.  Ooo, and Dorothy Allison!  And Zadie Smith and Hollis Gillespie.  And some of Steinbeck and most of Dostoevsky and Hunter S. and Lester Bangs are fun….and James Baldwin, and David Sedaris!  Yummy.

And you?

This was all supposed to be a FP article on **, and I just started writing and got way off topic and realized this belongs here, not there.  Kisses, FK! MB, feel free to change the title to whatever you had in mind,  I’m sure there was a theme…

278 thoughts on “Bookish Thursday?

  1. monkeyball Oct 27,2011 7:25 am

    no literature (or any art, for that matter) should be consumed alone

    So why do you keep all those books imprisoned with you in solitude? Donate ’em to a library. Heck, even selling ’em to Green Apple would put them out to freely roam in the socius.

    (Or, I suppose, you could start organizing book orgies.)

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • monkeyball Oct 27,2011 7:33 am || Up

      In other words, either way, FREE YOUR SAMUEL JOHNSON

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  2. mikeA Oct 27,2011 7:27 am

    My three fiction writers, alphabetically:
    Penelope Fitzgerald
    Nabokov
    Wodehouse

    Alice Munro and Coetzee are up there.

    Have you read William T Vollman, Bloom? Seems like it might be your thing, and you’d never run out…

    I love the first third of White Noise, particularly Murray.
    “How do you know so much?”
    “I’m from New York.”

    “I was covering the Jets, the Mets, and the Nets.”

    • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 4:48 pm || Up

      White Noise is teh awesome. I love the entirety of it. The strange thing about both it and my original exposure to Faulkner: I hated both of them before I discussed it with another person/persons. That’s why I think reading is best when it’s a social activity.

      And I’m still open to a FK Book Club.

      William T Vollman, huh? I will look him up.

  3. Future Ed Oct 27,2011 7:31 am

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  4. spwc2010 Oct 27,2011 7:44 am

    My first priority when deciding whether or not to keep a book is whether or not I’ll ever read it again. If the chances of my reading it again are less than 10%, I take it to my favorite used bookstore and get generous trade credit in return towards the next read.

    The second priority is whether or not it fits in with the theme of my library, which admittedly is focused on baseball and poker books. Of course, the theme of your library is “The All Time Greats,” so of course, most everything you have fits in.

    I understand the sentiment that the presence of the books can help to remember feelings and place/times. However, test yourself. See if thinking about a particular book brings back the memories just as well as physically seeing/handling the book. You’re pretty smart and sober, and I would think that you’d be able to remember most everything without the particular need of a physical reminder.

    One important thing I learned as a crossdresser is not to purge your collection just because you’re in a mood about it for a while, because you’ll miss it and want it back and that would suck.

    However, grooming a bookshelf or a closet like a bonsai tree can be profitable and somewhat liberating. It’s the middle path between a valued all-encompassing collection and only owning what you regularly use.

    \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
    • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 4:49 pm || Up

      Sage advice. I have several poker books, too. I really love both The Biggest Game in Town and Positively Fifth Street. In fact, it might be time to read them both again…

      • spwc2010 Oct 27,2011 5:00 pm || Up

        “Cowboys Full” by MacManus is quite the comprehensive history of poker and its’ reverberations through American politics and culture.

        \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
        • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 5:03 pm || Up

          Oh yeah! I did read that, too! And it wandered off….loaned it to my brother, iirc. I still have his Moneyball, though, so…you know.

          • spwc2010 Oct 27,2011 5:07 pm || Up

            My copy of Moneyball is full of betting stubs from lost bets on the A’s

            \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
            • spwc2010 Oct 27,2011 5:08 pm || Up

              well, maybe not full, but a slightly visible bulge

              \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
  5. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 8:09 am

    Moving to the US with nothing more than checked-in luggage seriously shrank my library, which would have been more traumatic but for being able to leave most of it to the collective I lived with in London where I still get to revisit it regularly. Merging collections with mrs ptbnl and thinning out the duplicates got us down to about 10 bookcases.

    An odd couple that springs to mind right now – George Orwell for capturing something quintessentially English and Gabriel Garcia Marquez for immersing me in its antithesis.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 4:50 pm || Up

      I love Marquez, especially that late life thin book he wrote, about the old man with the prostitute…

  6. monkeyball Oct 27,2011 9:28 am

    Samuel Beckett, who can’t go on, but must go on

    88 Lines About 44 Writers?

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  7. andeux Oct 27,2011 9:29 am

    I can’t get rid of my books either.
    Some favorites are Barth, Bukowski, Calvino. More recently Lethem and Chabon.

    Bloom, I assume you’ve read Exley’s A Fan’s Notes?

    TINSTAAFK
    • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 4:52 pm || Up

      No, I have not. I should?

      And I forgot Calvino. Love him, too…

      You read Kundera? Sounds in your wheelhouse.

      • andeux Oct 27,2011 5:10 pm || Up

        re: Exley. Yes definitely. A vaguely Bukowski-like fictionalized autobiography, with themes of alcoholism, failure, insanity, and being a sports fan (in his case NY Giants football). Beautifully written, both powerful and funny.

        re: Kundera. I know I have “Slowness,” and I think I read it but it obviously didn’t make much of an impression. Perhaps I’ll try the one you suggested.

        TINSTAAFK
        • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 5:13 pm || Up

          The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is…amazing.

          Upon reflection, though, it is really not the accomplishment that Ulysses is and calling the two the same thing is a disservice to both, probably.

  8. monkeyball Oct 27,2011 10:33 am

    Boy, now KThugman’s actively testing my hypothesis

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 9:39 am || Up

      Yeah. He’s awesome.

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  9. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 12:58 pm

    Unlike most of my literate friends, I’ve never a big accumulator of books…read ’em and purge ’em, that’s my motto. If this electronic book thing has legs, though, I could see it becoming something like my music collection, where all it takes is an extra external hard drive to maintain a personal collection of basically unlimited scope. At which point I still won’t have read most of ’em, and I’ll have lost the pretentious benefit of dusty book spines to make me appear much more deep than I actually am.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • Poppy Oct 27,2011 4:44 pm || Up

      I read & purge, too… only keep books that I know I’ll read again. Before The Movocalypse, I kept books that I thought I might read again, but I finally had to slice through and say “Nope, I’m not going to read you again, and if I decide that I want to after all, there’s always the library.” So the pile of books that I’d accumulated while in school (and hadn’t yet had time to read) were invited to move into one bookcase at Mom’s house with me, and the ones that I’m pretty sure I’ll read again someday are in only about 4 boxes in storage.

      I can’t do e-readers. My love for the things I love is hugely influenced by sensory experiences, and the tactile nature of turning real pages is part of reading. Mr. Poppy downloaded Watership Down on his iPad for some reason, and… it’s just wrong. I’m not sure whether it’s wrong because I hate reading ANY book electronically, or because there’s an almost complete absence of technology in that particular story, so having it on a computer just feels extra weird. (Then again, there’s also an almost complete lack of thumbs in that story, so maybe an e-book with swipe-able “pages” is a more appropriate way to read it…)

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
      • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 4:53 pm || Up

        I’m with you. I’m old enough that reading it online is not the same as reading a physical copy of the book. I’m not sure why that is, but at least part of it is I like to generally speaking take notes in the book.

        • Poppy Oct 27,2011 5:00 pm || Up

          I correct typos. It’s genetic… when I borrowed some books from my mom, I noticed she also does it.

          There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
          • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 5:04 pm || Up

            When they cleared out her library, after her death, Virginia Woolf had made changes in the printed copy of Mrs. Dalloway. I love that story.

      • sslinger Oct 27,2011 5:00 pm || Up

        I generally try to read and purge too, and a regular library user, though I still have a crapton of books filling up nooks and crannies all over. FYI, a while ago I sold a bunch of books at Moe’s for credit, and for the one’s they didn’t take they had a donation program for inmates. Thought that was a pretty good idea, don’t know if they still do it.

        • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 5:05 pm || Up

          That’s a good program!

        • Poppy Oct 27,2011 5:06 pm || Up

          I forgot to mention the 1957 encyclopedia set I had to move into storage to make room for my “haven’t read these yet” books. Actually, they’re “stored” inside the built-in bench under a bay window next to the bookcase. I’m thinking I’ll just leave them there for the house’s next owners to discover…

          There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
        • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 9:41 am || Up

          We pretty much always donate excess to the SF library for book sales. Often books we bought there.

          We have a few bookshelves, but my dad is the epic hoarder. He still has, for example, his entire college set of Shakespeare’s works. And all the Mad Magazine books from the seventies.

          "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
          • Leopold Bloom Oct 28,2011 11:35 am || Up

            Friends of the Library is never a bad thing.

            • dmoas Oct 28,2011 3:58 pm || Up

              I read that as “Friends of Liberty” at first and thought, “Isn’t that confederacy thing?”

  10. aardvark Oct 27,2011 1:02 pm

    My first priority when deciding whether or not to keep a book is whether or not I’ll ever read it again.

    Much of the literature in our house is sci-fi/fantasy and children’s books for exactly this reason. Well that and the fact that the Mrs. Aardvark is a children’s librarian and a voracious reader. We have had a number of purges and we are down to 2 floor to ceiling book cases and 2 smaller ones. Many of the rest of our books now reside in the basement.

    Leaving out my father and obscure sci-fi/fantasy authors, Alexandre Dumas would probably be my favorite.

    • sslinger Oct 27,2011 4:02 pm || Up

      You’re father’s a writer? Care to divulge his name?

      • aardvark Oct 27,2011 5:20 pm || Up

        Jay Feldman. He wrote a number of articles for Sports Illustrated in the 80’s and 90’s, including the first article about the All-American Girls Baseball league in a national publication, and some offbeat stuff like this one about a baseball game in Antarctica and this gem about a dog that loved to watch baseball. I still remember that dog, the most amazing part was that he could clearly tell the difference between the game the the players warming up between innings.

        He’s written three books over the last few years, all of them would likely be of interest to this crowd. Here’s the link to the Washington Post review of his latest book.

  11. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 3:33 pm

    Interesting profile of Howie Spira, the slimy dude at the center of the story where George Steinbrenner got suspended from baseball from having tried to blackmail Dave Winfield. It’s a lot to wade through, but the guy comes off as quite the pathetic sleazeball. The hook is this loser pipe dream Spira has pursued for decades about the “book-and-movie deal” that’s gonna bail him out of his pathetic life (which he mostly lives in his parents’ Bronx apartment). Ironically, the story might actually make a good book, if written by someone with the proper Nelson Algren or Charles Bukowski sensibilities.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  12. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 3:47 pm
    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • Leopold Bloom Oct 27,2011 4:56 pm || Up

      I RUN TORONTO! I AM TORONTO! I CAN ORDER CITO GASTON TO COME OVER AND HUMP YOUR WIFE!

  13. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 5:13 pm

    Goddamn fucking Rangers are not only gonna win the Series, they’re gonna make the last game a boring blowout too, aren’t they? What a crappy baseball season.

    (I miss it already!)

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 5:25 pm || Up

      Hey, maybe not!

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
      • spwc2010 Oct 27,2011 5:33 pm || Up

        I want there to be a game tomorrow night.

        Go LaRussaBots!

        \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
  14. spwc2010 Oct 27,2011 5:35 pm

    I’m excited. I’m going for sushi in 45 minutes, and I know the owner will have the game on, and he’ll probably be drunk enough to pour me a free beer to boot!

    \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
  15. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 6:00 pm

    Looks like succession in the British monarchy will no longer be based on male primogeniture and a prohibition on marrying Catholics.

    Had this been the case on the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 then her eldest daughter Princess Victoria would have succeeded. Since she was already Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia her death 7 months later would have given us King William V a.k.a. Kaiser Wilhelm, and an entirely different history of the 20th century.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 7:33 pm || Up

      But would we still have the iPhone?

  16. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 6:16 pm

    WTF Cardinals?

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  17. Future Ed Oct 27,2011 6:19 pm

    Was that Bloom on 2nd? I hope his ankle is OK, he was been doing a great job exercising.

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  18. Future Ed Oct 27,2011 6:20 pm

    Ian, that was a great pitch, please shut up

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  19. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 6:23 pm

    Holliday looks like he still has another error left in him tonight. Maybe two.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • Future Ed Oct 27,2011 6:30 pm || Up

      more errors than smiles

      I have $5. No I don\'t.
    • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 6:30 pm || Up

      That one he helped induce!

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 7:34 pm || Up

      getting picked off counts.

      • dmoas Oct 27,2011 7:34 pm || Up

        Too bad he was safe.

        • suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 7:36 pm || Up

          WTF was he doing wandering that far away?

          • dmoas Oct 27,2011 7:39 pm || Up

            Taking a pretty normal secondary lead, I’d imagine. Why he wasn’t going back soon, who knows.

        • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 7:39 pm || Up

          Didn’t look like it.

          If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  20. Future Ed Oct 27,2011 6:43 pm

    The question will soon be answered:can 9 Jack Custs win the world series.

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  21. Soaker Oct 27,2011 6:44 pm

    This feels like one of those Royals-Orioles games I occasionally watch on a random Monday night in May.

    What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
    • Future Ed Oct 27,2011 6:49 pm || Up

      WHy do you watch little league games during the baseball season?

      I have $5. No I don\'t.
  22. Future Ed Oct 27,2011 6:53 pm

    This is really great baseball to watch. I love seeing a pitcher hit is a big situation

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  23. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 7:00 pm

    Designated IBBer coming in to start an inning? That’s just crazy, TLR.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  24. lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 7:13 pm

    OBP may be the most dangerous concept in baseball but right now, I’m guessing TLR is wishing some of his guys could get on base.

    • andeux Oct 27,2011 7:15 pm || Up

      His guys are too busy playing the game the right way.

      TINSTAAFK
      • lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 7:33 pm || Up

        That run shouldn’t count. It came on a walk.

    • dmoas Oct 27,2011 7:29 pm || Up

      They seem to be doing okay at getting on base at the moment.

  25. oblique Oct 27,2011 7:13 pm

    Has anyone read The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil? I gave it to a friend as a present a while ago, and he read it and gave it back to me, telling me I should read it so he’d have someone with whom to discuss it.

    Now (years later) I’m feeling obligated to read it because I may soon be sharing office space with Singularity University.

    • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 7:25 pm || Up

      I may soon be sharing office space with Singularity University.

      Only to a point.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  26. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 7:28 pm

    Come on, Molina. You’re the only guy in the game with neck tattoos. Be a badass.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 7:30 pm || Up

      Bases-loaded walk will do.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  27. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 7:30 pm

    Wow. Holliday’s a dumbass.

    • lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 7:33 pm || Up

      M. Holliday picked off at home, catcher to third

      ?????

      • Future Ed Oct 27,2011 7:34 pm || Up

        third. he was picked off third

        I have $5. No I don\'t.
  28. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 7:31 pm

    OK, getting picked off third is pretty inexcusable.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • dmoas Oct 27,2011 7:35 pm || Up

      Except his hand got in there.

      • Future Ed Oct 27,2011 7:39 pm || Up

        the replay angles weren;t conclusive, but I couldn;t see that. It looked like

        I have $5. No I don\'t.
      • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 7:47 pm || Up

        I agree with Ed and ptbnl, looked out to me. He was slightly ahead of the throw nearing the bag, so it was the kind of call you expect to see called safe much of the time, but whether by incredible perceptive eyesight or dumb luck, the ump got it right as far as I could see.

        "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
        • dmoas Oct 27,2011 7:50 pm || Up

          From the side perspective it looked like he got the left hand in over the foot before the tag was made.

  29. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 7:31 pm

    What a maroon.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  30. Future Ed Oct 27,2011 7:32 pm

    1) why did ryan look so pouty, he is no stranger to basesloaded walks.

    2) I love adrian Beltre

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
    • DFA Oct 27,2011 9:56 pm || Up

      2) So do I.

      In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
  31. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 7:37 pm

    Didn’t the Cards have a runner (Suppan?) picked off third in the 04 WS?

    • Future Ed Oct 27,2011 7:40 pm || Up

      yes, let Pedro off the hook, and he cruised to a victory.

      I have $5. No I don\'t.
      • suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 7:42 pm || Up

        Out at home, it looks like, on some bad baserunner.

        • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 7:46 pm || Up

          And a double-play, to boot.

          If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  32. whiteshoes40 Oct 27,2011 7:41 pm

    Books! I like you, Bloom.
    I need to get out of grad school so I have time to read novels again. … There seems to be something wrong with that, considering I’m studying literature.
    I have a difficult time getting rid of books, though I wouldn’t mind parting with all of the theory books I’ve had to buy over the years. This:

    People who are too smart for their own good, chasing ghosts down unlit halls and artificially inflating the consequences of doing so.

    is exactly right. Also why I need to get out of grad school.

    • Leopold Bloom Oct 28,2011 11:37 am || Up

      It’s precisely why I despised grad school, and found a new respect for business majors. They are at least honest about it.

      • monkeyball Oct 28,2011 11:44 am || Up

        Exactly why I aborted both of my separate stabs at grad school.

        you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
        • Leopold Bloom Oct 28,2011 11:46 am || Up

          What did you go for, mb?

          • monkeyball Oct 28,2011 11:52 am || Up

            About $4.99/#

            you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
            • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 11:55 am || Up

              Not grass-fed, eh?

              "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
              • monkeyball Oct 28,2011 11:57 am || Up

                Pen-raised, fed with excrement

                you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
                • spwc2010 Oct 28,2011 4:05 pm || Up

                  I didn’t know you were raised in China and/or Colorado

                  \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
                • Leopold Bloom Oct 28,2011 9:50 pm || Up

                  Indiana.

                • bbenny Oct 30,2011 1:14 pm || Up

                  Coalinga.

                  -A night you wouldn't conjure in your wildest alcoholic dream!
            • Leopold Bloom Oct 28,2011 11:56 am || Up

              Damn! You’re rich, bitch!

  33. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 7:44 pm

    Oh goddamn it.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  34. lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 7:45 pm

    I don’t get TLR. Now he decides not to make pitching changes?

    • dmoas Oct 27,2011 7:51 pm || Up

      He’s bringing in Dotel. Methinks we should want to go back to know pitching changes.

  35. vignette17 Oct 27,2011 7:49 pm

    In the battle of guys who could have changed the A’s season, Beltre and Berkman have both HRed. Somehow I just realized this.

    • MikeV Oct 27,2011 8:19 pm || Up

      YEAH BUT KEITH GINTER!!!!

      And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

      Thanks, and go As.

  36. oblique Oct 27,2011 7:56 pm

    This is getting sad.

    • Poppy Oct 27,2011 8:15 pm || Up

      Texas rhymes with vex us. Sort of.

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  37. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 8:30 pm

    Ah McGuffer … who else could watch Jay hit one to shallow right and announce that the Cardinals haven’t got a ball out of the infield for 18 straight batters.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 8:46 pm || Up

      And then follow Pujols double with an explanation of the no-doubles defense Texas is apparently employing.

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • Poppy Oct 27,2011 8:54 pm || Up

        And again with Freese… LOL

        There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
        • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 9:02 pm || Up

          Ah, but that was a triple ;-)

          If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  38. Poppy Oct 27,2011 8:47 pm

    Does anyone else feel queasy?

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
    • Poppy Oct 27,2011 8:48 pm || Up

      I think it’s because this is exactly where the A’s would hit into a double play.

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
      • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 8:49 pm || Up

        It’s the postseason – the Cards would hit into the DP, the A’s would forget to touch home.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
        • Poppy Oct 27,2011 8:51 pm || Up

          Forgetting to touch home would only be one out, though. There should also be a guy that just stops running the bases.

          There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
          • dmoas Oct 27,2011 9:48 pm || Up

            He’s jumping around first & second thinking the other one scored.

  39. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 8:48 pm

    If Craig homers here and Buck says “And we’ll see you tomorrow night!” I’ll barf.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • Poppy Oct 27,2011 8:50 pm || Up

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  40. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 8:51 pm

    No pr for Berkman?

    • sslinger Oct 27,2011 9:33 pm || Up

      Nobody left on the bench. Just tuned in for the 9th – what a treat!

  41. JediLeroy Oct 27,2011 8:52 pm

    Shucks.

    az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
  42. Poppy Oct 27,2011 8:53 pm

    I need to change the channel. I don’t think I want to see this.

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
    • Poppy Oct 27,2011 8:53 pm || Up

      Okay, I wanted to see that.

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  43. JediLeroy Oct 27,2011 8:53 pm

    Incredible!

    az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
  44. whiteshoes40 Oct 27,2011 8:54 pm

    Holy crap!

  45. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 8:54 pm

    Holy shit!

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  46. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 8:54 pm

    Cool!

  47. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 8:54 pm

    Cruz totally should’ve had that, too.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 8:55 pm || Up

      It would’ve been a great catch, but still, he saw it all the way.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • JediLeroy Oct 27,2011 8:55 pm || Up

      Agreed.

      az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
    • suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:01 pm || Up

      Yeah, he looked like he wasn’t running at full speed and then tried to lunge when he realized he underran it.

  48. Soaker Oct 27,2011 8:56 pm

    Looks like this Game 6 is headed for some Buckneresque moment.

    What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
    • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 8:59 pm || Up

      headed for?

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 9:00 pm || Up

      Seriously. Awful lot of success via others’ failures going on tonight.

      That game came after a rain day off too, IIRC.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  49. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 8:57 pm

    Anyone know of a real-time WP tracker – I’m thinking Holliday’s numbers have to look especially ugly with the error & pick-off.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:01 pm || Up

      Fangraphs.

      • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 9:09 pm || Up

        Thanks.

        The pick-off was worth -15% all on its own. Otherwise the walks and the error were pretty much a wash.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • doctorK Oct 27,2011 9:02 pm || Up
    • andeux Oct 27,2011 9:04 pm || Up

      Not sure if they count fielding though

      TINSTAAFK
      • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 9:13 pm || Up

        Not officially, but you can still look at the difference between the WP had he not erred and the WP with the error and assign that to Holliday.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  50. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 9:01 pm

    FK

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  51. Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:01 pm

    blaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrg

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  52. JediLeroy Oct 27,2011 9:01 pm

    Well, that is an unfortunate development.

    az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
  53. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 9:02 pm

    Jesus Christ, every time the Cards get back even Texas knocks them right back down.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 9:05 pm || Up

      Seriously, and with a proper appreciation of the absurdity of the concept of shut down innings, St. Louis has tied or taken the lead in four innings, and in each successive at-bat Texas has scored.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  54. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:02 pm

    Well, that didn’t last long.

  55. Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:03 pm

    If I talk about changing the channel in the bottom of the inning, will something wonderful happen again before I get the chance?

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  56. lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 9:05 pm

    {anticipates the 5,000 Josh Hamilton hero-worship articles about to be written}

    • Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:09 pm || Up

      There’s a 6-year-old in Texas who probably doesn’t think he’s so awesome.

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  57. Soaker Oct 27,2011 9:08 pm

    Huh, where’s Neftali Hyun-Kim when we needed him?

    What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
  58. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:11 pm

    Watch TLR overmanage his way out of a rally.

  59. Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:11 pm

    So… what’s on HBO tonight?

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  60. vignette17 Oct 27,2011 9:19 pm

    If Ryan was Canadian, I’d make puns on Theriot.

    • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 9:20 pm || Up

      With a name like TheRiot, he oughta be in downtown Oakland, eh?

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  61. Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:21 pm

    I’m holding the remote control now…

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
    • Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:24 pm || Up

      I’m amazing.

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
      • whiteshoes40 Oct 27,2011 9:25 pm || Up

        Please continue to use your powers for good.

        • Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:27 pm || Up

          Comcastic.

          There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  62. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:23 pm

    This is fucking insane.

  63. lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 9:24 pm

    And it continues!

  64. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 9:24 pm

    Unbelievable.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • sslinger Oct 27,2011 9:36 pm || Up

      Kind of like an all-star game with nobody left available at this point. Think Bud will call the game a tie?

  65. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:30 pm

    If there’s a game 7, is Carp pitching tomorrow?

    • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 9:38 pm || Up

      Nope – he’s got innings 23 through 28 tonight.

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  66. Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:31 pm

    I’m tired of hearing about Napoli’s twisted ankle. Does he also have a Bloody Sock they can show us?

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  67. Soaker Oct 27,2011 9:35 pm

    Somehow I am unsurprised that pinch-hitting Esteban German for Feldman failed to add value.

    What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
    • suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:38 pm || Up

      I remember when he was the hot-shot A’s 2B of the future, sometime after the Jose Ortiz era.

      • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 9:46 am || Up

        Moments before we had to desperation-play some idiot nobody named Mark Ellis.

        "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 9:45 pm || Up

      Probably subtracted value considering Mark Lowe came in and that happened.

  68. Future Ed Oct 27,2011 9:37 pm

    Estaban German-Leftfielder

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  69. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 9:38 pm

    Wait, why is German in RF and Cruz is out?

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:40 pm || Up

      Got yer baggie, ptbnl?

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
      • Poppy Oct 27,2011 9:41 pm || Up

        (don’t know why that’s a reply to FSU)

        There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  70. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:40 pm

    Holy crap. Freese will never have a better game.

  71. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 9:40 pm

    He FKing did it – Joe Buck owes me a new couch.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 9:41 pm || Up

      Listening on the radio – did he really do that? What a way to wreck the moment.

      • andeux Oct 27,2011 9:43 pm || Up

        He can’t help it, he’s Joe Buck.

        TINSTAAFK
      • Future Ed Oct 27,2011 9:43 pm || Up

        he did, and he kinda stumbled over it

        I have $5. No I don\'t.
  72. Future Ed Oct 27,2011 9:40 pm

    Joe Buck=Asshole

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  73. sslinger Oct 27,2011 9:40 pm

    Wow. Just wow.

  74. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 9:41 pm

    Man oh man, that was awesome. Except for that fucker Joe Buck barfing his tomorrow night line over the big moment.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  75. sslinger Oct 27,2011 9:41 pm

    Nolan looking very tight-lipped at the moment.

    • monkeyball Oct 27,2011 10:02 pm || Up

      Whammy!

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • Leopold Bloom Oct 28,2011 11:40 am || Up

        Has Nolan ever taken his pants off at Sea World?

        • dmoas Oct 28,2011 3:58 pm || Up

          Who hasn’t?

          • Leopold Bloom Oct 28,2011 9:51 pm || Up

            Well, if he hasn’t yet, he will this coming week sometime. Fucking tool. Ha.

  76. JediLeroy Oct 27,2011 9:42 pm

    Sheeeeze. Crazy, awesome game.

    az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
    • Soaker Oct 27,2011 9:45 pm || Up

      Although I think your BYU football team is hating re: tomorrow night.

      What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
      • JediLeroy Oct 28,2011 7:00 am || Up

        Yeah, BYU’s gonna lose that one.

        az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
  77. monkeyball Oct 27,2011 9:42 pm

    BWAAHAHAHA

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  78. vignette17 Oct 27,2011 9:44 pm

    Berkman .817 WPA. And Freese outdoes him with .953.

    • Future Ed Oct 27,2011 9:53 pm || Up

      too bad you can’t count dropping a pop up

      I have $5. No I don\'t.
  79. 5Aces Oct 27,2011 9:45 pm

    Winning game 6 is easy. Tell em Wash…

    It’s incredibly difficult.

    Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it? -Steve McCatty
  80. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 9:46 pm

    If only they could both lose tomorrow …

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • sslinger Oct 27,2011 9:58 pm || Up

      My sentiments too – and for the second year in a row. Until tonight I have not been enjoying this series at all, but that was a classic.

      Speaking of tomorrow, does anyone want to meet up to watch game 7? Plenty of options in north Berkeley for those of us in this area, but I’d be happy to go to an Oakland venue too if that’s preferable to others.

      • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 9:48 am || Up

        Yeah. Just once I’d like to see a team I don’t loathe make the WS.

        "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
        • spwc2010 Oct 28,2011 4:07 pm || Up

          2014 Royals-Padres WS

          \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
          • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 4:10 pm || Up

            A’s – Padres. Behind 60 HR hitters Carter and Taylor, and .400 / 100 SB man Weeks.

            "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  81. vignette17 Oct 27,2011 9:56 pm

    So the last World Series game 7 was an AL West team vs an NL team I didn’t want to win. The AL West team had never won a WS. The NL team had the best hitter in baseball.

  82. lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 10:01 pm

    Cruz has a strained groin. Might be out tomorrow.

    • sslinger Oct 27,2011 10:06 pm || Up

      Did that happen before the 9th? If so, maybe that affected his attempt to catch Freese’s ball.

      • lenscrafters Oct 27,2011 10:11 pm || Up

        Nah, I think they said it happened right after his last at bat.

  83. ptbnl Oct 27,2011 10:14 pm

    Back to WPA …

    Matt Holliday is credited with 0.3% for this game, which includes +8.6% for the 2 walks and -14.6% for being picked off 3rd.

    It also includes +6.3% for reaching on Young’s error and excludes -7.6% for Nelson Cruz reaching 2nd on his own error – and the WPA would actually be worse than this if assigned to MH because it would be the difference between the actual outcome and what should have been after, not what was before.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • DFA Oct 28,2011 5:56 pm || Up

      How does the lack of smile quotient affect WPA?

      In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
      • JediLeroy Oct 28,2011 6:56 pm || Up

        There were some pretty funny comments in that old thread.

        az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
        • DFA Oct 28,2011 7:43 pm || Up

          great thread

          In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
          • suspicious coin Oct 28,2011 8:24 pm || Up

            great diary, too.

            • JediLeroy Oct 28,2011 8:58 pm || Up

              Ah, the days when I had time to post things to blogs…

              az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
  84. FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 10:14 pm

    I’m going to have to reconsider my “No chance in hell” take on the likelihood of Quan being recalled. 20K sigs is still a hard nut to crack without paid petitioners. But dear God. She is bald-faced lying when she says she didn’t make the final decision to roust the encampment. The subsequent police assault, ordered by her newly hand-picked Chief and Administrator, made Oakland a national disgrace. Then she tacks back left, backing the cops off, letting the tents back, announces she’ll address the OccOak General Assembly tonight…and then she leaves because they insist she wait her turn to speak.

    Oakland now has a lawn full of tents again, an expanded, radicalized and much more unified group of protestors, and freakin Michael Moore (and can further Jon Stewart jibes be far behind?). The various clampdowns will have accomplished nothing, and the previous problem will be more intractable.

    OTOH, maybe the righteous outrage will be so galvanizing that Wednesday’s General Strike will sweep the nation, and the People will overthrow the Corporatocracy before Christmas. In which case Quan will be famous for all time, like Custer and Quisling.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • monkeyball Oct 27,2011 10:19 pm || Up

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 10:20 pm || Up

      Have you noticed that you can’t say FreeSeatUpgrade without saying Freese?

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • andeux Oct 27,2011 11:10 pm || Up
        TINSTAAFK
    • monkeyball Oct 27,2011 10:23 pm || Up

      I have a hard time imagining that Dellums or the Don would have done any better.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 10:48 pm || Up

        You must be kidding. Don would’ve stopped the encampment within the first few days, diffusing the mass before it got too big to jail. Dellums would never have cleared the encampment out at all.

        "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
        • dmoas Oct 27,2011 11:06 pm || Up

          Dellums would have joined them while not actually knowing what he was doing there.

        • monkeyball Oct 28,2011 6:19 am || Up

          Don would have ordered the cops in earlier and harder. Dellums would have dithered and flipflopped more dramatically than Quan (if he was even in the city at all) via a bevy of competing lieutenants.

          you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
          • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 28,2011 7:47 am || Up

            Part one, yes, as I said. Part two, you don’t know what you’re talking about please allow me to offer a different point of view. Indecisiveness and flipflopping were not Dellums problems, nor was internal factionalism. The lack of his presence was real, of course, but there is absolutely no doubt that Dellums (perhaps by phone from a luxury hotel in DC) would have left the encampment to do its thing uninterrupted.

            "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
            • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 28,2011 10:08 am || Up

              Sorry, that was phrased unduly harshly, I’ve edited my choice of words.

              "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
              • monkeyball Oct 28,2011 11:36 am || Up

                No, no problem — no offense taken. You certainly know the players better than I do.

                you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • dmoas Oct 27,2011 10:36 pm || Up

      Either A) She knew about and needs to be held accountable for the actions of the OCP. Or B) She’s telling the truth and she needs to be accountable for being completely incompetent and not actually managing the city she’s charged with.

    • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 27,2011 10:45 pm || Up

      OMG! Quan did just try to wait in line and speak, and got booed so resoundingly that she retreated without saying a word.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
      • ptbnl Oct 27,2011 11:12 pm || Up

        Here’s her letter to OccOak.

        1 & 2 are fine, 3 would have to distinguish between police and other emergency services, and 4 has no hope right now.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
        • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 9:55 am || Up

          Yeah. 4 is just counterproductive, and makes a “fuck you” more likely than an “ok, we’ll allow EMTs”

          "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
          • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 28,2011 10:08 am || Up

            She has to say #4 (please don’t camp in the plaza), because she’s getting a lot pressure from the law and order element, which prior to OccOak was arguably the most prominent voice in the City’s body politic, on account of all the murders and the perception of Oakland as too dangerous to do business in.

            I thought it was reasonably well phrased, in that points 1-3 say “we need” and point 4 says “we ask.” And the reality, as ptbnl notes, is that everyone including Quan knows they aren’t able to stop the camping now.

            "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
            • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 10:22 am || Up

              I would have not included it in the letter at all. I understand why she did, but it is counterproductive.

              "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
            • ptbnl Oct 28,2011 10:22 am || Up

              I think when your first communication with OccOak post-thuggery includes that as a requirement, and is conveyed via a letter posted on your facebook site, it’s guaranteed to fail.

              If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
            • monkeyball Oct 28,2011 11:37 am || Up

              you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
          • Future Ed Oct 28,2011 11:53 am || Up

            Reminds me of the “Free Speech Zone” Seattle mayor Paul Schell designated after the forst day of the WTO in 1999.

            They were zones where you could and would be arrested for having an anti WTO sign, or a peace lapel pin, or any outward show of “lefty” causes.

            I have $5. No I don\'t.
            • monkeyball Oct 28,2011 11:59 am || Up

              you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
              • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 28,2011 12:46 pm || Up

                Remember when I used that photo once, way back in the olden days?

                "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
                • suspicious coin Oct 28,2011 8:26 pm || Up

                  How quaint.

                  (love the poster in the back)

  85. elcroata Oct 27,2011 11:06 pm

    Damn, what a game I just slept through!

    Because survival is insufficient
    • MikeV Oct 27,2011 11:58 pm || Up

      It was awesome! We went down by 1 when the second half started and then came back and won it 9-6, I scored the final goal to put it away.

      Oh wait, you didn’t mean my indoor soccer match?

      And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

      Thanks, and go As.

      • elcroata Oct 28,2011 12:11 am || Up

        Was there any other one?

        Because survival is insufficient
  86. suspicious coin Oct 27,2011 11:36 pm

  87. elcroata Oct 27,2011 11:37 pm

    Oakland and Stuttgart, united by more than their love for the A’s alone:

    Oakland

    Stuttgart

    Because survival is insufficient
    • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 9:55 am || Up

      Exactly.

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
      • elcroata Oct 28,2011 11:04 am || Up

        Although it should be noted that everything is bigger and better in the US, beating up the protesters notwithstanding. And that the guys in the bottom were not occupying Wall Street or such, but our city park, protesting the changes in the central train station that bring cutting of the century-old trees with it.

        Because survival is insufficient
        • FreeSeatUpgrade Oct 28,2011 12:09 pm || Up

          Oakland doesn’t have its own tank-mounted water cannon, though (sighs wistfully).

          "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  88. nevermoor Oct 28,2011 9:59 am

    On the subject of books:

    I think the world would be a better place if everyone read:

    1. The Jungle
    2. Something by Balzac. The grittier the better.

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • monkeyball Oct 28,2011 11:39 am || Up

      2. Mountain oysters?

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • nevermoor Oct 28,2011 11:42 am || Up

        Nope, but that reminds me to also ping Catch-22.

        "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
      • spwc2010 Oct 28,2011 4:15 pm || Up

        1. Mountain oysters?

        Oh wait… those are rat heads.

        \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
    • Leopold Bloom Oct 28,2011 11:43 am || Up

      Balzac was a writer. He lived with Allen Funt.

    • suspicious coin Oct 28,2011 8:28 pm || Up

      I’m one of those bastards who, when he read The Jungle, was hit in the stomach and not in the heart.

  89. sslinger Oct 30,2011 5:43 pm

    Speaking of purging, we’ve gone through books today and have several bags full to get rid of. Included are 6 baseball-related books I figured I’d offer if anyone wants them:
    – Summer of 49
    – Summerland by Michael Chabon
    – Mind Game
    – Fantasyland – good for anyone interested in Fantasy Baseball
    – The Mind of Bill James
    – Aces by our good friend the Urb

    Let me know if you’re interested in any of them.

    • Leopold Bloom Oct 30,2011 6:02 pm || Up

      I’ve never read Aces. Is it any good?

      • Leopold Bloom Oct 30,2011 6:02 pm || Up

        …and the Bill James one sounds interesting.

      • sslinger Oct 30,2011 6:09 pm || Up

        It’s was a fun read as an A’s fan, from back when they were all good. It would be nostalgic now. The Bill James books is interesting. I can send ’em to you if you want – email me your address.

      • spwc2010 Oct 31,2011 10:11 am || Up

        no.

        \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
    • Poppy Oct 30,2011 9:08 pm || Up

      Fantasyland is a fun read even if you’re not interested in fantasy baseball… you just have to know a little about what fantasy baseball is and how superfuckingserious some people are about it. I loved that book.

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
      • vignette17 Oct 30,2011 11:39 pm || Up

        Seriously. It described me to a tee the first year I ever played fantasy. Since then, I’ve lost almost all interest but the book is still quite good.

        • MikeV Oct 31,2011 8:29 am || Up

          Fake Online Baseball > Fantasy Baseball.

          And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

          Thanks, and go As.

          • dmoas Oct 31,2011 8:40 am || Up

            Masturbation > Fake Online Baseball.

            • Future Ed Oct 31,2011 10:07 am || Up

              that’s just science.

              I have $5. No I don\'t.
              • Leopold Bloom Oct 31,2011 11:08 am || Up

                Masturbation > Science

                (with all apologies to Shorty)

                • dmoas Oct 31,2011 12:18 pm || Up

                  Ha! You just got Shorty!

                • thus sayeth the llama Oct 31,2011 11:56 pm || Up

                  It’s close, I’ll grant you.

                • Leopold Bloom Nov 1,2011 12:39 am || Up

                  …and you love science! Think of how the rest of us feel about it.

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