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Monthly Archives: September 2013

Baseball and/or Football

30 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Articles & Books of Interest, Go Sox

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Austen Lane, baseball, Football, Jonathan Mahler

One of the delights for me being able to pursue interests other than professional ones is having time to read and think about some of those other interests.

Today’s post links to three articles that I have found particularly interesting about sports.

And you do not have to be an obsessive sports’ fan nor do you need to pick baseball over football or vice versa to enjoy them.

The first two articles (sent to me by BT) are written by a football player who is particularly gifted in his ability to convey what it is like to be a professional football player, to fail at that profession, and to continue to pursue his dream to play.

Both of his articles are worth your time I believe:

* What It’s Like to Get Whacked, by Austen Lane

* A Game with No End, by Austen Lane

The other article I draw to your attention (thanks to AR for alerting me to this one) appeared yesterday in the New York Times and discusses the current ‘decline’ in interest in baseball as the ‘National Pastime’, some of the reasons football (and other sports) has/have gained in popularity, and the differences between them.

Its author, Jonathan Mahler, doesn’t seek to persuade you about one sport over the other but rather writes about how they differ. And, perhaps, as interesting as the article itself are the Comments by readers that follow the article. If you have the time and the topic interests you, there is much here to enjoy and consider.

 Is the Game Over, by Jonathan Mahler

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Some Answers

27 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Articles & Books of Interest, Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends

≈ 2 Comments

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Ashley Merryman, The Washington Nationals, Thomas Boswell, Winning and Losing

Two recent newspaper articles seem to give some answers to questions raised in several of my recent posts.

A couple of months ago I wondered about how to respond to my 4 1/2 year old grandson when he asked me if it was OK to lose at a game. A number of you wrote thoughtfully, either in the Comment section of the post, A Question From a 4 1/2 Year Old, or in an email to me.

Thanks to tips from readers HS and BT, I draw your attention to this article, Losing Is Good for You by Ashely Merryman. While the article focuses on the ‘folly’ of giving trophies to every one who participates in a game, a sport, it also speaks to the larger issue of praise, over praise, and what that does to kids. This issue has deservedly received a good deal of attention recently, and I find I am guilty of erring in this regard too.

The second article, A Season of Tough Lessons for the Nats, by Thomas Boswell, addresses not only the Nats but also all those of you (90+%) who predicted last year’s National League darlings would continue and perhaps do even better this year.

As is often the case in a Boswell article, he seems to nail not only the specific issue he is addressing, in this case, why the Nats failed to live up to expectations, but also has some good advice that goes beyond just the Nats and baseball in general.

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Why Having the Best Record Matters

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

baseball, Boston Red Sox, Home Team Advantage, MLB Playoffs, Wild Card, World Series

Dear Ellen,

I appreciate that you have been quite patient with my mishegas (craziness) again this year with the Red Sox.

I have also noticed that you haven’t ‘rolled your eyes’ when I’ve said that getting into the playoffs isn’t enough, that the Sox need to have the best record in the American League too.

But I’m not sure you understand just how important it is have the best record.

So a quick post for you to know why I am continuing to stress about my heroes even tho they will be in the playoffs.

If they have the best won/loss record that means the following:

1) They will have home field advantage in the two series they would have to play to get to the World Series. In the first best of five series and then in the second best of seven series if there are final games, those crucial games would take place in Fenway, home of the brave.

How important is that, you may ask?

Of the 81 games they have played at home this year, they are 53-28. They have won 65% of their games at Fenway.

Of the 78 games they have played away from home so far this year (they still have three left to play this weekend in Baltimore), they are 43-35, 55%.

Enough of a difference to matter.

2) They will face the winner of a one game Wild Card play off.  And that team will have used their best pitcher in that Wild Card game, meaning the Sox won’t have to face the likes of say a David Price in their first game.

3) They will not have to face Detroit in the first playoff series. Detroit has both terrific pitching and strong hitting. And there is always the chance they will be defeated by the time the Sox have to play them.

4) They will not have to make two trips to the West Coast to play Oakland (going back for a final game if the series goes that far), which means they will be more rested.

But you may ask, “Don’t they still have to beat the Tigers and whoever wins the playoff games against the Wild Card anyway?”

True.

But playing at home, playing with the most rest possible, and not having to face one of the best pitchers in baseball to get to the World Series all matter.

Those are not guarantees that the Sox would make it to the World Series.

But every advantage helps.

Questions?

Richard,

Go Sox

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Announcing Three New MillersTime Baseball Contest Winners

25 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2013 Baseball Contests, baseball, Major League Baseball, Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Wild Card, World Series, Yankees

As the 2013 MLB season winds down, or, for some of us, winds up, there are already three winners to announce for this year’s MillersTime Baseball Contests.

Contest #4 – Will Nats make the playoffs? If yes, how far will they go?  If no, why not?

More than 90% of you said the Nats would make the playoffs, and some of you thought they’d make it to the World Series or even be the winner of the WS. Most seemed to believe the Nats would pick up right where they left off last year (98-64). With four games remaining, they are 84-74 and have been eliminated from the Wild Card.

Matt Gallati (“they will be plagued by injuries and thus lose more often than they win.”), Larry Longenecker (“Davey Johnson will eventually upset people by speaking his mind…”) and David Price (“…they won’t even be close…”) all thought they wouldn’t make the playoffs and seemed to understand that 2013 would be different for them than 2012.

But Randy Candea wins this contest with this prediction for 2013: “Nats (88-74) will finish behind Atlanta and not make the playoffs due to sophomore jinx. Unlike last year, they won’t win the close games.” He gets two tickets to a Nationals’ game of his choice in 2014.

Contest #5 – Predict the Sox-Yankee Split of the 19 games they play against each other. Since Jere Smith failed to take the opportunity to appeal my decision, Meg Gage wins the two tickets to Fenway in 2014. (See this earlier post for more details on the results of this contest.)

Contest #7 – Worst Prediction.

Actually this one was not one of the six original 2013 contests. In a moment of anxiety about how the Sox were doing, I distracted myself by going through everyone’s predictions and decided to add a category of the Worst Prediction for 2013. I found 15 predictions that were pretty wide of the mark and let you folks choose which one was the worst. (See all the 15 in this earlier post.)

Elizabeth Hedlund ‘won’ (got the most votes from you) with her prediction that “Stephen Strasburg wins 30 games, first since Denny McLain in 1986.”  And because contestant Tracy Capullo encouraged Elizabeth to join the contests, these two Red Sox fans get to go to a Nats’ game of their choice in 2014.

Also,

Contest #3. Which League wins the All-Star game, what will the score be, and who will be the MVP?

I announced the winner of this contest earlier. Tim Malieckal and I will go to Minneapolis next summer.

Finally, there are still three contests to be decided: Best overall prediction (#1), Best Team Prediction (#2), and World Series Contestants and winner. We’ll have to wait until the end of October to see who wins these.

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The Humble Bloggers Garden & The Fragrant Reader’s Garden

17 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

"Divine Culture Insider", "The Fragrant Reader's Garden", "The Humble Administrator's Garden", "The Humble Blogger's Garden, Chinese Classical Gardens, Mureen Neuman, Suzhou, Thomas Virnston - Landscape Gardenr

The Humble Blogger's Garden, pix by Maureen Neuman

The Humble Blogger’s Garden, pix by Maureen Neuman

It’s probably no surprise for those few of you who follow MillersTime closely (a couple of loyal family members and several other friends who have nothing better to do with their time) that I am thoroughly enjoying my retirement with its freedom from the care taking at The Frost School and of my parents and that I am loving the freedom to choose each day what to do with my time.

But I have to admit that I somewhat frequently get the questions, “Don’t you miss working and what do you do with your time?”

The answer to the first question is an unequivocal “No,” even though those ‘working’ years were wonderful.

The answer to the second question is a bit more complicated, as no two days are similar. I might choose to read an entire day, go to a mid day movie, or work on my second ‘work’ love, writing a post for MillersTime. Or I might focus on the Red Sox (Spring Training for example) or even attend a Nationals’ game with a friend, which is much less stressful than watching a Sox game. Then there are my daughters and whatever is occupying their lives. Trying to keep up with the grand kids has become even more interesting with the addition of a third (see the post, Three Is Much More Than Two). And, of course, there is always travel as I am free to join Ellen on any of her many work trips around the country and around the world, where I spend part of a day observing her world, then explore whatever place she has taken me, before we both add on a few days of langiappe, exploring wherever we are.

All of the above is a somewhat meandering introduction to today’s post.

Another activity that I have been able to undertake has been the two-year planning, development, and creation of two Chinese Classical style gardens in the two small spaces beside and behind our house. Actually, as you will learn from the attached link, I have been thinking about Chinese gardens ever since Ellen, my father, and I first went to Suzhou in the 1980s. Something about those gardens grabbed me and has stuck with me for more than 30 years, even tho I have never thought I had much interest in plants, flowers, and gardens in general.

Anyway, with the completion of a makeover for our kitchen and an upgrade of our study/library and sun porch (another two-year project that I was able to oversee), I turned my attention to the two contiguous outdoor spaces, one next to our kitchen and one next to our sun porch, which I have long been thinking about as possibilities for replicating some of the delights of the Classical Chinese Gardens.

With a wonderful partnership with a landscape gardener, Thomas Virnston, (click to link to his website and a video of the two gardens), we are nearing the completion of these two spaces, which, with the help of our long time friend Ping, we’ve named them The Humbler Blogger’s Garden (after The Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou, one of China’s best classical gardens) and The Fragrant Reader’s Garden.

Through a friend of Thomas’, an article on the creation and completion (mostly) of these two gardens was just ‘published’ on the website Divine Culture Insider: A magazine about traditional culture and contemporary society inspired by the performances of Shen Yun.

The author and photographer for the article, Maureen Neuman, has restored my faith in reporters as I think she has captured the essence of what we’ve tried to create.

If you are using a laptop or desk computer, click on the link below this paragraph and have some patience as the PDF of Maureen’s article may take a few moments to load.

Divine Culture Insider, Fall 2013 Suzhou Gardens – High Res.pdf

It’s also possible to simply read the on-line article from the link below this paragraph, but you will miss the wonderful graphics and some pictures. If you chose this link, be sure to click on the two links below the article as Terri’s reporting in this version is split into three parts.

A Washingtonian’s Suzhou Gardens

Enjoy.

We certainly are.

And consider coming to see the two gardens yourself.

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We Have a Winner in MillersTime Contest #5

16 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

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baseball, Boston Red Sox, MillersTime Baseball Contest #5, New York Yankees

Contest #5 :  The Red Sox and the Yankees play 19 games this year. Last year they played 18, and the Yankees won 13 of them. What will the split be in 2013? Tie-Breaker: Who will be the outstanding player for each team, and who will be the dud on each team this year?

Prize: Two tickets to a Sox-Yankee game in 2014. Winner can choose the park and whether or not I join (use the second ticket).

Fifty-four per cent of those participating said the Yankees would win the series, taking 11.4 games to the Sox 7.6.

The 46% of you who thought the Sox would win said they’d win 11 games to 8.

With last nights 9-2 victory by the Sox, a sweep of the final three game series between the two teams, the Fenway heroes put the final nail in the coffin of any possibility of the Yankees winning the AL East Division.

The Sox, on the other hand, improved their record to 92-59 (.609) and increased their Division lead to 9.5 games over the tottering Tampa Bay Rays. With 11 games remaining in their regular season schedule, the Sox Magic Number is down to four.

(For those not paying close attention to the 2013 Red Sox, Yes, these are the Red Sox who last year ended the season with a record of 69-93. Certainly an amazing turn around, about which I probably will write in more detail on another, later post.)

Oh yes. The Sox-Yankee split this year?

Sox 13 to the Yankee’s 6, with the Sox scoring a total of 120 runs to the Yankee’s 85.

A(nother) total reversal of 2012.

Four of the MillersTime contestants were tied with the closest predictions. Dan Fisher, Meg Gage, Jere Smith and Tracy Capulo all predicted a split of 12-7, favoring the Sox.

(Ed. note: one contestant, Elizabeth R. Miller, predicted the Sox would take the series 15-4, being the only one who said the Sox would win more than 12 of the 19 games. Obviously, Ms Miller must have been raised well. On the other hand, Yankee homer David Price will have to live with another one of his sorry predictions, “Yankees will win 14 games. The Sox will be lucky to get away with the other 5.” David comes from ‘Across the Pond’ and perhaps that contributes to his continual misjudgments.)

Since Dan and Tracy failed to make predictions about who would be the outstanding players and who would be the duds, they tie for third place in this contest.

That leaves Meg Gage and Jere Smith.

Meg said Pedroia would be the Sox hero, and Dempster would be the dud for the Sox. And Cano would be the hero and Teixeira the dud for the Yankees.

Jere said for the Sox, Middlebrooks would be the outstanding player and Aceves the dud. For the Yankees, he picked Sabathia as the hero and Youk as the dud.

By the power invested in me by me, I therefore declare Jere Smith runner-up.

And Meg Gage wins the prize and gets to see a Sox-Yankee game in 2014.

However, if Mr. Smith would like to appeal this decision to the MillersTime readers, I will give him one week to present his case, and then I will put the appeal decision up to a vote.

Finally, the best quote I heard about last night’s game and the Sox-Yankee rivalry this year came from that no good fellow Alex Rodriquez: “I guess the good news is that we’re leaving Boston.”

Hopefully, for the rest of this season. And for ever (forever) for A-Rod.

Screen Shot 2013-09-16 at 9.49.33 AM

 

Finally, if you didn’t have a chance to see the Sox tribute (and roast) to Mariano Rivera last night, you can see it now:

Fenway Gives Mo One Final Standing Ovation

 

 

 

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Three Is Much More Than Two

13 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Family and Friends

≈ 3 Comments

noname-e1379087024494

So in a moment of weakness, my wife Ellen and I agreed to move into my elder daughter (Annie) and son-in-law’s (Danny) house a couple of weekends ago to take care of the three kids for 24 hours. Annie was surprising Danny for his upcoming 40th birthday with a night ‘on the town’ in DC with their friends.

Promises have a way of coming due, and so we kept our word.

As you can see from the picture above, the kids are getting to be a handful. But we all survived, and I don’t even have my usual list of ‘disasters’ to write about.

But I did get to thinking about the differences between one child, two, and three.

I’ve always felt that two kids were not just one more than one kid. And that three kids simply multiplies the possibilities  – joys, opportunities, challenges, etc…

For example, with just one kid, there are only four possible combinations (groupings) that have to learn to get along: Annie + Danny + Eli (1); Annie + Danny vs Eli (2); Annie + Eli vs Danny (3); and Danny + Eli vs Annie (4).

When you add another child, Abby, for example, the combinations, groupings jump to 8.

When you add a third child, Ryan, for example, the combinations jump to 16.

(Not being sure of my math skills, I checked with my numbers’ cruncher (btilis) whose first response was a request for more information (could there only be two separate groups or could there also be a group of all individuals). Then he responded, “I really don’t know.  I tried writing them out and can’t come up with a pattern (my brain is fried).  The multiple teams really throws things off for me.”

(So I tried to simplify it for him (and he’s the numbers guy, not me), saying just groups, no individuals. His response, I’ll spare you the details, matched mine from above if you also allow for one grouping of all the individuals.)

Bottom line: the difference in the combinations of groups jumps from 4 to 8 to 16, which are multiples, confirming my instinct that having two or three kids is not like adding one or two more. Its a geometric increase, not an arithmetic one.

But then any of you who have more than one kid certainly doesn’t need this posting to confirm that.

Pictures probably say it better:

1. With one child, there are only four possible groups (groupings) that have to learn to get along:

DSC_2830

2. With two children, that jumps to eight:

P1050380

3. With three, the combinations double to 16:

_DSC0137

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A Guilty Pleasure

11 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

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"Never Go Back", Jack Reacher, Jim Grant, Lee Child

17237152

Perhaps I should change that to “Another Guilty Pleasure.”

Those of you who open my emails touting my latest nonsense on MillersTime know of my acknowledged addiction to the Boston Red Sox, even if you, wisely, avoid reading what I write about them.

There is a second addiction, which some of you may have discerned and I am willing to acknowledge here, and that is to Lee Child’s thrillers featuring his, and many of his readers’ obsession with, his hero Jack Reacher.

(This addiction, for which I blame and thank Elliott Trommald, is not as debilitating as the one to the Sox as Child has ‘only’ written 18 books while the Sox play 162 games every year. Plus, it only takes a few hours to read a Child’s book, and you’re pretty well assured of the outcome of his latest thriller even before you begin to read it. Not so with the Sox.)

All of the above is an introduction to Lee Child’s latest book, Never Go Back, and my attendance at a Lee Child’s book talk last night in DC.

First, the book:

It’s good.

The first 40 or 50 pages (it’s hard to tell about pages when reading electronically) are as good as Child’s best. Never Go Back opens with Reacher, in fact, going back to Washington, DC, where he’s spent a good deal of his ‘professional’ career and where he immediately gets himself thrown into jail.

The middle of the book slows a bit, and I found the ending (it’s not a spoiler to say Reacher wins again) a bit anti-climatic, tho there is some question about what will happen between Reacher and his female counterpart.

Is it Child’s best?

I don’t know.

In fact, that is both the good and bad about Child’s writing. It’s absorbing and a wonderful diversion to whatever else is going on in the reader’s life. And then it’s over, and I, for one, cannot remember or separate many of his earlier books from each other.

Someone said Child’s books are ‘candy for the brain.’ That sounds about right. Tho I’d add that they’re pretty high quality candy. And somewhat addictive too.

Since this is my year of ‘rereading,’ I think I might go back and reread at least one or two of his earlier ones to try to determine if there’s more to Child’s writing than admiring Jack Reacher and marveling at his ability to get himself into and out of messes and ‘Robin Hooding’ and ‘revenging’ his way around the country. (Any suggestions for my rereads from those of you who are Child/Reacher fans?)

Lee Child in person:

Lee_Child_2

I’m not sure what I expected of this evening, other than hoping (against hope) that I would see Jack Reacher himself.

But despite not meeting Reacher, the evening was more enjoyable and more informative than most of the book talks I’ve attended.

First of all, as I’ve written elsewhere, he’s not Lee Child. That’s just the pen name British writer Jim Grant uses, tho I still haven’t learned why he needs an alias. And there was no reference to the name Grant at his appearance last night.  Not sure what that’s all about.

Child did tell last night’s audience his naming of his main character Jack Reacher came from a comment from his wife, who said if his writing career did not work out, he could always become a ‘can reacher’ at the local supermarket because he was so tall.  After working for 18 years in television, he had been fired in a ‘corporate restructuring.’ Out of a job at the age of 39, he decided to try his hand at writing, since, he said, “I’d read obsessively all my life, starting at the age of three, and I didn’t know what else to do.”

Now, 18 books later, one a year since his first one in 1997, Child says, “This is a great life, a great job, and I meet nice people. Plus, now that I’ve spent as much time writing as I did in television, I think I may never have to get another job.” He said he “had no work ethic, being a European” (tho he now lives in NYC) and thoroughly “loves the craft, art, and creativity of writing, even if sometimes I have to write as much as four or five hours a day.” He claimed he does no research, at least in the traditional sense, tho he stores experiences and observations which he uses in his writing and sees his whole life as research.

Asked how he came to his Jack Reacher character, Child said, “Being out of work and being unemployable, I knew I had to make this book work. I closed my eyes and wrote, and Reacher is what came out. He’s an amalgamation, inspired by things I’ve read (John D. MacDonald, for example). There’s a long tradition of loners in literature, individuals who are talented in a narrow range of things, idiots otherwise.”

Asked about the violence of Reacher, Child said, “Violence is how I feel. Everyone has a list of people you’d cheerfully shoot in the head but can’t. Reacher does it. It satisfies a primeval urge. You can do it in fiction, sort of a way to work out frustrations.”

For those of you who have not read any of Child’s books, know that even though his main character appears in all of them, each of his books stands alone, and you do not have to read them in any order.

For those of you who may be wondering how long Child/Grant will continue writing, he told the audience that at one point he thought he might stop with this book, Never Go Back. But in fact he recently signed a contract for another three books, and on September 1 (“I always start a new book on Sept. 1,” he said.) he began his 19th Jack Reacher book, which he’s tentatively titled 20 Seconds Ago.

Lee Child may not be Jack Reacher, but clearly he admires him, has some physical similarities to his ‘hero’ and from listening to Child talk, clearly he’s put some of himself into this character (his sense of time, his sense of humor, his feelings about violence, his view of the world, for starters). And Child/Grant is as every bit as likeable as is Reacher.

A good evening and a good introduction to the man who has been responsible for many hours of this ‘guilty pleasure’.

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Three New Films to Consider

10 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 3 Comments

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"Closed Circuit", "Museum Hours", "Short Term 12", Bobby Sommer, Brie Larson, Destin Daniel Cretton, Jem Cohen, John Gallagher Jr., Kunsthistorisches Art Mueseum

Closed Circuit *** 1/2

closed_circuit64

Of the three films mini-reviewed here, Closed Circuit is the least memorable and just makes it into the category where I post a mini-review (above three stars).

Nevertheless, as the film ended, I was wishing to myself that the film had continued for another half hour or so, at least. I was involved in this British crime thriller throughout its 1 hour & 36 minutes, and I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the acting.

Perhaps some of my interest came from the current concerns of our NSA’s infiltration our daily communications, or at least their ability to do so. Not that this film addressed the specific issues that are so troublesome about what the NSA is doing, but it comes close and does focus on the role of government crossing boundaries as it attempts to stem terrorism.

However, despite its ability to keep the viewer totally engaged, it was not memorable in the way that some of the best ‘whodunit/what happens’ films are (whether that has to do with my increasingly short term memory challenges or the film itself, I’m not sure).

So, if you’re looking for a thriller film that will keep you entertained, if only briefly, check it out.

 

Short Term 12 *****

Short-Term-12-poster

Definitely one of the best I’ve seen so far this year.

I admit I was primed to enjoy the film (tho also perhaps to be critical of it) as it has much to do with how I’ve spent my professional life, working with unhappy, hurt, angry, and emotionally troubled adolescents and also my close involvement with the staff charged with the care and treatment of these young people and their families.

The setting of the film takes place in a short term (supposedly 12 months) residential facility for adolescents who have all been in foster homes and who have been scarred and for various reasons have nowhere else to go at this point in their lives.

The portrayal of these troubled adolescents is as good as I’ve seen in any film. The three or four individuals that director Destin Daniel Cretton features are presented so realistically that I recognized each of them and kept saying to myself, “that’s exactly the way it is.”

But the film goes further as it also focuses on the interactions of the young, ‘front line’ staff (mostly in their 20s) with these adolescents. Grace (wonderfully played by Brie Larson) is the young supervisor of the residence, and the film is also about her struggle with issues from her own past as well as her relationship with a coworker, Mason (John Gallagher, Jr.).

Writer and director Cretton based the film on experiences and observations he had working in a similar institution earlier in his life. And he gets it all right. He also gets wonderful performances from a remarkably strong, young cast.

Leaving the film, I wondered if my ‘enjoyment’ and judgment about Short Term 12 was perhaps skewed by my own experiences in a somewhat similar situation (a day school tho, not a residential setting).

My wife Ellen, who has spent her professional life in or near the political world, was as enthusiastic as I was about the film and also remarked that it was as good a film as she’s seen so far this year.

 

Museum Hours ****

MV5BMjAzMzI3NDQ1NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTA0MjQ3OQ@@._V1_SX214_

Museum Hours is the opposite of Closed Circuit, that is if two films can be opposites.

Almost nothing happens in Museum Hours. The ‘plot’ involves two people, a guard (Johann) at the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum in Vienna and a Canadian visitor (Anne) who spends time at the museum when she’s not sitting by the bedside of a distant cousin who is in a coma at a Vienna hospital.

Actually, it’s probably not totally fair or accurate to say nothing happens. The two people meet, talk, and explore the museum and Vienna. At the end, the cousin dies and the woman leaves Vienna.

I went to see Museum Hours knowing I don’t like museums, and I certainly don’t like spending time in hospitals. Because the reviews were so positive, I put my dislikes aside, convincing myself that at least I might get to know a bit about Vienna, a city where I’ve never been.

Of course, I was surprised by what I saw. The exploration of Vienna, much of it non tourist Vienna, didn’t particularly entice me. But I found myself more interested in the museum than I ever expected to be, particularly seeing it through Johann’s eyes, then Anne’s, and also through the lens of Jem Cohen, the writer/director. Cohen brings the art to life as he mixes the paintings with current life issues.

Museum Hours is indeed a film primarily about art and the meaning it may have for our lives. To a lesser degree, it is also a film about friendship, but that is mostly a vehicle for Cohen to explore the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum and Vienna.

Slow at times (I admit to nodding off twice as I saw it shortly after lunch one day), it is a lovely film, with wonderful photography and an endearing performance by Bobby Sommer (his first film) as Johann.

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Why You Gotta Stay ‘Til the End

06 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

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Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera, Mike Napoli, Red Sox, Shane Victorino, Yankee's Choke, Yunkees

Screen Shot 2013-09-06 at 9.14.07 AM

Last night proved once again that you simply have to stay until the end of a baseball game, whether that’s the 27th out or the final out or run scored in extra innings.

So after blowing a 7-2 lead to the Evil Empire last night, the mighty Sox were down to their final strike in the ninth inning. Mariano Rivera, the great God of closers, was on the mound. Mike Napoli, the strike out leader for the Sox with 171 so far this season, was up with two strikes. The Yunkee fans were all on their feet screaming for the final punch out, an amazing comeback, and an important win as their long season was hanging by a thread.

And I had my hand on the off button on my iPad so I wouldn’t have to see the Bronx celebration.

If you’re reading this post, you probably already know the outcome. Napoli scratches out a hit. Recent Sox acquiree and speedster Quintin Barry replaces Napoli on first, steals second and gets to third on a bad throw and a missed stop by hobbled Derek Jeter. Stephen Drew, unsung Sox player who was 0-4 already, scratches out a single, and the Sox tie the game. Rivera blows (another) save opportunity against my heroes.

So if you had left the stadium, as perhaps half of the Bronx fans had already done, or switched off your TV, iPad, or radio, you missed the come back.

Then it was another 15 minutes or so before the Yankees further imploded with Soriano getting greedy trying to steal third after having swiped second. He was caught. The Sox got out of the inning with the next batter.

In the 10th, after a blown call by an umpire on whether Shane Victorino had swung or not, benefiit to the Sox, chubby Joba Chamberlain gave up a go ahead RBI to one of this year’s key Sox players (Victorino).

Koji Uehara, the not so surprising Sox closer (to those who have followed his career closely), and perhaps the new, next God of closers, shut down the Yunks in the bottom of the 10th.

Four hours and thirty-two minutes.

And if you hadn’t stayed through the end of the 9th and on to the 10th, you woulda missed it.

There were enough mistakes by both teams, their managers, and the umpires to fill another post, but I’ll spare you that.

Suffice it to say, Thursday night’s game was simply another confirmation that no matter what, you have to stay until the end.

(PS – Elsewhere I’ve written why you also have to be at the park for the first inning, as the three hardest outs are not at the end of a game but in the first inning, when most runs are scored, before the pitchers settle in and while the offensive teams have their best hitters lined up).

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The End of Sam Wo’s?

05 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 2 Comments

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Julie Ho, Sam Wo's Chinese Restaurant

Pix by Anita Rechler

I regret to inform MillersTime readers that there will be no reopening of Sam Wo’s at 813 Washington St. in SF’s Chinatown.

Closed for health and building code violations in April 2012, negotiations have broken down between the owners of the building and the owners of Sam Wo’s over the cost ($300,000) to satisfy the necessary repairs. As a result, Julie Ho announced on her Facebook page that the 100+ year’s of Sam Wo’s rental of 813 Washington St. has come to an end. The restaurant will not reopen at that site.

It is possible, however, that the restaurant could reopen at a different location in SF’s Chinatown, tho that is not at all certain.  Julie Ho is apparently searching for a new location in the same neighborhood.

But for those of you, us, who have known this narrow, this three story ‘hole in the wall’ (?) where ‘diners’ entered through the kitchen and climbed to the second or third floor for inexpensive and satisfying Chinese food, it’s all over. No more food delivered on a rope pulled dumbwaiter. No more insults from the world’s rudest waiter (actually, he’s been gone a long time). No more two AM comfort food.

(To read more about Sam Wo’s, it’s history, the people who owned it, worked there, ate there, the attempts to keep it open, etc., check out this four minute YouTube video.)

 

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Worst MillersTime Baseball Predictions – Please Vote

03 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 6 Comments

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Joe Sheenan, MillersTime Baseball Contests, Nats, Os, Red Sox, SI, Worst Baseball Predictions, Yunkees

Bryce Harper goes nuts. — Harper’s age-19 season was arguably the best ever for a player of his age. It wasn’t just his physical tools, but his approach at the plate, with a good walk rate and acceptable strikeout-to-walk ratio, the way he worked to improve in the outfield, and his unmatched aggression on the bases. Mike Trout set the bar high for 20-year-olds last year; look for Harper to clear it and set a new standard for baseball playing by a guy who can’t legally buy a drink. He will challenge for the NL MVP for a Nationals team that might be the best in the game.

 –  Joe Sheenan, Sports Illustrated – My Baseball Predictions for 2013. Posted: Thu December 27, 2012 11:29AM; Updated: Thu January 3, 2013 3:39PM. (Ed. note: Harper is currently hitting .278 {last year he hit .270} with 19 HRs and an OBP/SLG/OPS of .381/.541/.895 {last year – .340/.477/817} and has missed more than a month because he continues to run into outfield walls. Harper is hardly equal or above Trout’s last year’s BA of .326, 30 HRs, and OBP/SLG/OPS of .399/.564/.963. Also, the Nats are barely above .500 and likely won’t make the playoffs. Clearly not “the best in game.”)

*                         *                          *                          *
I’ve gone through the 2013 MillersTime Baseball Contests looking to see which of you will turn out to be the wise (lucky) ones. In the process, I noticed there were a number of predictions that are a bit wide of the mark, so to speak.

 

So, while we await the outcome of the September games, I thought I’d ask all of you to vote for which of the following you judge to be The Worst Prediction for 2013:

 

  • 1. Teddy will win at least 26 races; Taft will not win any races. (Ed. note: You probably need to be a Nats’ Homer to understand this one. Anyway, Teddy has only won 8 times and Taft has already won 9 times.)
  • 2.  Nats win 103 games and the WS – multiple ‘fans’ mistakenly predicted a Nats’ WS win. (Ed’s note: Nats’ record currently at 69-68. Even were they to win all of their remaining games, their record would only be 94-68. If they continue at their current .504 rate, they will end up 82-82.)
  • 3. Blue Jays win AL East. (Ed.’s note: Blue Jays currently at 63-75, 18.5 games behind in the AL East.)
  • 4. Yankees win 95 games and “have little trouble in dispatching with the flotsam of Boston & Baltimore.” (Ed.’s note: Yunkees currently at 73-64 and would need to win 22 of their remaining 25 games to win 95.)
  • 5. Cole Hamels wins 24 games and leads the resurgent…Phillies to the NE East title. (Ed.’s note: Hamels is currently 6-13.)
  • 6. Stephen Strasburg wins 30 games. (Ed.’s note: Strasburg is currently 6-9.)
  • 7. The New York Yankees will finish 90-72, make playoffs, lose in the ALCS. (Ed.’s note: See # 4 above, plus the Yunkees are currently 8 games out of first, behind the Sox, Rays, & Os, and behind the As, Rangers, Rays, and Os for one of the two wild card spots.)
  • 8. The dreaded Yankees will win the WS. Jeter or Rivera will win MVP honors. (Ed.’s note: See above # 4, 7.)
  • 9.  Farrell will quickly realize the Sox need more depth in their rotation and will call his buddy Tito in Cleveland and put together a deal to get Dice-K back in Boston. (Ed’s note: Sox pitchers are currently first in the AL East with an ERA of 3.76 and fourth in the AL. Who is Dice-K ? That guy now pitching for the Mets who is 0-3?)
  • 10.  Baltimore will play Washington in the World Series. (Ed.’s note: See #2, etc.)
  • 11.  Jeter PEDs. (Ed.’s note: If he is, he isn’t getting any benefit as he’s currently hitting .196.)
  • 12.  Harper will hit well over .300 and hit at least 40 home runs. (Ed.’s note: See above,: re Joe Sheenan’s prediction, etc.)
  • 13.  Dodgers finish third with 80-85 wins. Ed.’s note: Dem Bums in first place by 12.5 games and in line to win about 97 games at their current rate of .599.)
  • 14.  Papi with 15 quick HRs. career ending injury. (Ed.’s note: Otiz currently has 24 HRs and a BA of .312. No sign as of this writing of a career ending injury.)
  • 15.  Derek Jeter revives his bat and gets at least 250 hits and bats over .300 for the season. (Ed.’s note: See #11. And he currently has nine {9} hits.)

You can vote once, you can get friends to vote, you can vote for your own predictions, and you need to get your votes in by September 30 (tho I’d prefer you do it sooner). You can put your vote in the Comment section on this post or send it to me by email (Samesty84@gmail.com)

Whoever’s the winner (i.e., the author of”The Worst Prediction for 2013) will have the ‘honor’/’dishonor’ of attending a Nats’ game with me next season.

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Lee Child / Jack Reacher Fans, Join Me…

02 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ Leave a Comment

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"Never Go Back", Jack Reacher, Lee Child, Sixth & I

30BOOK-articleInline

Lee Child – Jack Reacher

If you know the name Jack Reacher and have read lots (any) of Lee Child’s books, then you might want to join me Tuesday, September 10  at 7 PM in DC to see and hear Child’s talk about his newest book, Never Go Back.

Janet Maslin’s review in the NY Times (Aug. 29) of this recent book opens with the following:

Lee Child’s bodacious action hero, Jack Reacher, has already tramped through 17 novels and three e-book singles. But his latest, “Never Go Back,” may be the best desert island reading in the series. It’s exceptionally well plotted. And full of wild surprises. And wise about Reacher’s peculiar nature. And positively Bunyanesque in its admiring contributions to Reacher lore.

For those of you who haven’t had the good fortune to read any of Child’s thrillers, he’s a British writer named Jim Grant (Lee Child is his pen name). His 17+ books featuring the ‘detective’ Jack Reacher are some of the best escapist books I know. Grant/Child’s books have won numerous awards, beginning with his first one, Killing Floor, which won a best first novel award in 1997, and on to his 2012 A Wanted Man which won a National Book Award for Thriller/Crime Novel of the Year.

To ‘claim’ the one free ticket I have, send me an email (Samesty84@gmail.com) if you want to/can join me.

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