Sunday Open Thread

 

"See Willy Fly By" - Waco Brothers

Another great Jon Langford tune -- the Waco Brothers are a side project of his, aptly described as "part Cash and part Clash."

Been a busy weekend without much chance to see what is going on -- hope to have a chance to write a bit tomorrow once I get back to DC. 

What, other than the continued collapse of the Boston Red Sox, is going on?

Comments

[beckya57]

For those of us who remember the 70's, a collapse by the Red Sox is totally unsurprising. It was their failure to collapse in the early 2000's that was shocking. ;-)

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

I too have seen Red Sox collapses, and as a Mets fan, I saw our incredible two year tumbles a couple of years back, so my heart goes out to the members of the Red Sox Nation who hang out here. I'll have to admit I've always liked Tampa Bay, a team that wins with speed, pitching and a low budget -- and this year, with the winding down of the great careers of Jeter and Rivera and the surprising years Granderson and (Super)Nova are having, and with Nick Swisher, it isn't as easy to hate the Yanks as it usually is.

I still think the eventual champion won't be from the East though, but expect a great playoff season in the AL. The NL is weird, with everybody ending their seasons on such a down note. My feeling is that the eventual series is going to be one that won't make Fox happy (HOOORRRAYYY!) because it will feature the smaller markets.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

On other non-political subjects, the new tv season is weird. All the older shows I watched regularly have come back stronger than ever -- with two, NCIS and CSI, re-finding the tracks they'd jumped and almost every major character on all the shows I watched showing more depth and maturity. CASTLE in particular is a major step up. I haven't seen SUPERNATURAL yet -- we watch everything on DVD and work in some old movies so it sometimes takes a while and the 'right mood' to pick a particular show.

On the other hand, the new shows are pretty bleak. I didn't/couldn't watch them, but apparently PLAYBOY CLUB and CHARLIE'S ANGELS were even worse than predicted. RINGER's premise is a 'can you name 50 things wrong in this picture' mess. I'll give PRIME SUSPECT at least one more shot, but it looks like another American mess-up of a British series in the line of LIFE ON MARS and TOUCHING EVIL -- though there are some first-rate actors on it. And UNFORGETTABLE spent so much time setting up the situation that it's impossible to tell how it will settle down.

Then there is PERSON OF INTEREST, a show so authentically ugly it's hard to notice it's also pretty bad -- though Michael Emerson's acting is a high spot. But the show has proto-fascist elements, the evil government conspiracies -- that have been a staple of tv at least since the X-FILES -- and sometimes we wonder why people are so willing to fall for the craziest claims of the TeaPartiers and Birthers. That's the way the government -- when so described -- acts on tv, and the procedurals don't make a point of their own 'place in the government.'

But most of all, along with the 'mysterious leader that has a 'mystical' (in this case psuedo-scientific mysticism) connection to the will of the people acting to stamp out evil' we have the ultimate in Randian/Nietzschean 'to the superior no laws need apply' thinking that is always a key to fascism. The hero, an ex-CIA guy living on the street -- one review described him as the 'smelliest' hero in tv history -- kills more people than the 'good guys' ever would, and it is a perfect touch that having discovered that a defendant -- shown not as sympathetic ("I'm innocent because if I'd killed the guys I wouldn't have meesed it up, but done it the way I ususally do.") -- is in fact innocent of the crime he's charged for -- the only mention of him afterwards is that he was stabbed in prison before the verdict could come in.

Add a pretty silly premise -- all "Mr. Finch" can get from his "wonderful machine" is Social Security numbers of people who might be involved in a future crime -- with the 'surprise' in the pilot being -- totally predictably -- that the person being watched isn't the target but the ringleader. Hope that the audience doesn't wonder how he picks from what must be thousands of numbers spewing out every day from his machine -- since he doesn't know whether they are heading for a mild accident or a major criminal action -- and a black female detective who will either become an ally or a nemesis.

Which leaves TERRA NOVA (Spielberg and DINOsaurs oh my, oh yawn,) HART OF DIXIE -- either awful or the one sleeper of the year -- and the belated appearance of GRIMM -- which would work in any other time slot better than the one it is currently scheduled for -- if you rip off another show (SUPERNATURAL), don't run the rip-off against the original, especially when there is another show (FRINGE) also attracting a similar audience at the same time.

All of which was more than you needed to know about tv, but I need to exercise my writing muscles every so often. (You can see how clanky they are and how much they need it.)

[Beckya57a]

Jim, you've just reminded me why I don't watch TV! If it weren't for sports I could just throw the things out.

[paula b]

Jim---It's good to see you back flexing your muscles, and with such enthusiasm! to me, nothing compares to the original Prime Suspect, which is why we bought the whole set of DVDs and watch them or other old shows (Homicide, The Wire, the various Burns series for PBS)on those nights when there aren't any Red Sox games or Law & Order reruns. Speaking of the Sox, we've missed most of the last month's games because we've been on the road so much, which may be a blessing. There are times when it's just too darn painful to watch a disaster in glorious wide-screen HD.
Greetings from Nashville!

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Maybe more later -- including a defense of tv -- there's a lot of crap, but a lot more really good work, and two examples of truly great work -- ROYAL PAINS and, yes, NCIS -- which deserved that usdden year when everybody discovered it.

But as I nap, I'll remember just finishing watching what is, I believe, the only movie that included Laurel & Hardy, the 3 Stooges, Lupe Velez, and -- in a non-Disney production -- Mickey Mouse -- as well as music by Rogers & Hart and starring Jimmy Durante. And a few lions for good measure, as well as Charles Butterworth, who migt actually steal the movie from the rest.

It's very obscure, and, well, there were five directors on it and no0ne was wiling to take 'credit' but it's weird fun.

HOLLYWOOD PARTY is the name. And yes, I am napping after watching it -- it's a dream, but not mine, one of the characters.

[beckya57]

Paula--the Red Sox torturing their fans is a long, long tradition. Read Roger Angell's books for erudite and entertaining accounts of Red Sox Nation pain.

[nancy]

I nominate Up with Chris Hayes as the best addition to the fall TV line-up. Here he is sticking it to Bobo, who by the way, is seeming crankier and crankier when he sits down with Mark Shields on the Friday News Hour . Poor guy. Inequalistan indeed.

Paula, I'm with you. A remake of Prime Suspect , especially with Helen Mirren still doing one smashing performance after another, seems especially ill-conceived. Jim, your ability to get through all of that screen time is impressive -- I'd be twitchy-eyed. *-)

[nancy]

Ross Douthatt at the Times today. Beyond the pale .

I gather it's this sort of twisted bloodlessness you were alluding to in your previous posts, Becky, allowing for no daylight in interpretation.

[Sir Charles]

nancy,

The Douthat piece was impressive both in terms of its incoherence and its depiction of how optional Ross's Catholicism is when it comes to matters other than sex.

[Gene O'Grady]

Douthat's Catholicism is also apparently optional when it comes to his own sex life as I recall.

The great tragedy of the Catholic Church is that when they needed a quality pope they got that clown Wojtyla, whom Hans Kueng correctly branded as ignorant of and untrained in theology, liturgy, and church history, a mix of a third rate Edmund Husserl and a fourth rate Ingmar Bergman, but good on TV. And people like Douthat are his natural prey in this vale of tears. At least Wojtyla figured out what my father, who saw it up close in his career, knew about capital punishment.

[Anonymous Lawyer]

E.J. Dionne wrote an interesting op-ed about how only conservatives can end the death penalty.

I think he is on to something. Here's one nugget:

Last week, Don Heller, who wrote the 1978 ballot initiative that reinstated the death penalty in California, explained in the Los Angeles Daily News why he had changed his mind. “Life without parole protects public safety better than a death sentence,” he wrote. “It’s a lot cheaper, it keeps dangerous men and women locked up forever, and mistakes can be fixed.”

There are over 700 men and women on death row in California alone. Abolition of the death penalty in that state -- converting death sentences to life without possibility of parole -- would save $1 billion over the next five years. LWOP means exactly that: no one who has been sentenced to death has been paroled since that ballot initiative in 1978. The ones who have been sentenced to death and left the Row have left because they [a] won a new trial because of serious legal error, and then were differently sentenced in later legal proceedings (usually after many years or even decades of litigation); [b] committed suicide; or [c] died of natural causes or were killed in prison.

There is collateral damage, too, with executions. Troy Davis supporters experienced one example of that damage. I experienced another, spending an execution night with the family of a client; they suffered immeasurable grief, and they are humans, too. It takes pieces out of the hides of lawyers like me, even when someone else's client is executed. Doesn't do shit for the prison staff, either, as Dionne points out:

The most moving testimony against Troy Davis’s execution came from a group of former corrections officials who, as they wrote, “have had direct involvement in executions.”

“No one has the right to ask a public servant to take on a lifelong sentence of nagging doubt, and for some of us, shame and guilt,” they said. “Should our justice system be causing so much harm to so many people when there is an alternative?”

The former director of California's prison system, Jeanne Woodford -- who oversaw four executions while she was warden of San Quentin State Prison -- is now the the executive director of a non-profit opposing capital punishment.

Maybe these folks, and Justice Ginsburg and others have a more informed view of the deficiencies of the death penalty process than that relative or neighbor whose thoughtful view is "they shouldn't breathe my air."

[oddjob]

Christopher Hitchens's musings on why among "Western democracies" only the USA clings to capital punishment. (Those who know of his opinions regarding religion won't be surprised by his conclusion, even as he makes a decent case for it.)

Hat tip, Sully.

[nancy]

What might have occurred had all of the staff involved in Davis' execution refused to proceed? A mutiny within its ranks would beg the question: who with a conscience can be required to participate?

Demonstrations outside the prison walls we expect. Demonstrations on the row by those who shoulder the responsibility of execution 'in our name' could take us where we need to be -- we've never seen that kind of action to my knowledge.

When Gary Gilmore was executed by a firing squad, the executioners were, as I recall, given some assurance that their particular bullet may not have been live ammunition. One round was a blank. Last week, no possible balm was available to those involved.

[oddjob]

It would appear Obama, too, has seen that Elizabeth Warren video, and that he liked it. :)

[Anonymous Lawyer]

Nancy, the execution teams are volunteers, meaning they support capital punishment and think they're good with killin'. They are usually anonymous. They get team training; it might not be very good training, but they are a team, they have a protocol, and that lends pressure. If they all walked out, there's a good chance they'd all be fired.

There are many accounts of prison wardens and news reporters ending up repulsed by executions they thought they could handle. It might take one, or many executions, but they end up feeling really bad.

Not so much data on execution teams; I think they'd prefer to fade off in their anonymity. If you're ever at a party and someone starts bragging about committing executions, that's a good sign that you need to back away. In my opinion.

[kathy a.]

oddjob, great link! but that's the core message, isn't it? i think elizabeth warren might have looked at some previous conversations here. ;)

[beckya57]

Check out the NY Times' editorial today on why capital punishment needs to be abolished. Among other things they point out that 5 Southern states are responsible for most executions. I continue to think that fighting to keep the South in the Union was a really, really big mistake....

[kathy a.]

park service video of the earthquake from inside the washington monument -- which is still closed due to inspections of structural damage. as an experienced californian, that looks like a heck of a shake.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

I'll quietly duck in here and just say I am breaking out the Bushmill's in sympathy with the Red Sox fans. Again, I suffered through two years of collapses -- to the fuck8ing Phillies, no less, and Rollins' big mouth -- at least you are losing to the Rays. (Hey, becky, if we retroactively cancel the Civil War -- a suggestion I too am becoming more sympathetioc too -- can we still keep the Rays and Braves and Marlins in MLB? And speaking of the Braves, they are doing their own floperoo -- and there is no one I hate in baseball worse than that drunken (2 DUIs at least) racist (supporter of Arizona's immigration laws) Tony LaRussa. Go Braves, pleeease!

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

And a quick tv comment -- maybe to be expanded on later. Other years have had a lot of bad shows, but this is the first year there have been as many offensively bad shows, and TERRA NOVA is -- along with being a close challenger to RINGER for the most insanely unworkable, unthought through premise -- one of them. The combination of Spielberg and Brannon Braga is scary enough but this gives them full scope to make every one of their typical mistakes, including a 'save the human race from ecological disaster' suuposedly set in about 2100 that seems to have resulted in only Americans -- and the American social structure -- being saved. A full list of the absurdities -- both tecjhnological and sociological would be a long post even for me. But if you have Mystery Sciece Theatre 3000 type fun at goofinf on really bad shows, it will be on again on Saturday.

[nancy]

Oh my . Radiohead. On Colbert. One hour. Well, that's me I guess. Jim, it's teevee.

[beckya57]

Wow, I didn't know those ugly facts about LaRussa. I'm from downstate Illinois, so sorry Jim, I just can't root against the Cards. I do like the Rays, and am pulling for them over the loathsome Bosox. As for the Marlins, I made the mistake of drafting Henley Ramirez #1 for my fantasy team this year, and his implosion destroyed my team, so I hate the Marlins for that. I don't care if the rest of them had nothing to do with that.

[paula]

Greetings from the Sam Ervin Pkwy in WNC. Sam, who once equated racism with allergies, would probably be a Tea Party darling if he were alive today. his namesake road winds all over the place, as you might expect.
So what's this about FEMA finding some loose change buried deep in the seat cushions? How will this play inthis week's game of chicken?

[Sir Charles]

Hey guys.

Sorry for not checking in -- got back from Boston Sunday and spend the day in NYC yesterday. And now my job is expecting work from me.

The Red Sox continue their slide into oblivion in the most amazing fashion.

Becky,

You have to see Moneyball if you have not yet -- it's quite well done.

[nancy]

This here's for you Paula, about your favorite Virginia Congressional leader . He's in a class almost all by himself. Incroyable. He wants his FEMA funds. And wants them now.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

The incredible thing about the Red Sox collapse is that Tampa Bay isn't pushing them that hard. I remember when the Mets fell apart -- and it seemed like Philly was winning every day. But Tampa is only 6-4 over the past ten games, not exactly imitating the Rockies of a few years ago.

[oddjob]

The Sox are something 5-17 over their last 22 games.

[beckya57]

I think I saw that Tampa was something like 15-10 over the same span. Jim's right, that's not exactly tearing it up. The Sox are committing hari-kiri more or less on their own. I half expect to see Bucky Dent show up. I have the Sox-O's game on the BBN right now; so far the Sox are leading 2-1 (more Ellsbery heroics), but I'm sure they'll shoot themselves in the foot any time now.

Sir C, I haven't seen Moneyball yet, but certainly plan to. Problem is, my husband isn't into baseball. However, I have a couple of friends who are, so maybe I'll get one of them to go with me....If you haven't read Roger Angell, you're really missing out.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

You can keep track of the games in another window here. Just make sure the auto update is on -- and a h/t to Em, who discovered the site.

[Sir Charles]

Sox up 5-3 -- Yanks - Jays tied at two. A twofer would make me almost sleep easier.

Becky,

I went with my wife, who is also not a sports person, and she was quite captivated for it.

[Sir Charles]

Oh yes, Scutaro hits a two run homer. Sox up 7 to 3; Yanks leading 3-2. Keep hope alive.

[Sir Charles]

God damned Rays are back in the lead 5-3. And it's 7-4 Sox -- three runs is never enough these days.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Scutaro is one of those players you have to love -- as I have since his brief tenure with the Mets after finally, belatedly making it to the majors with the Brewers. He doesn'tr have a lot of 'natural talent' all the guy does is figure out a way to beat you -- ask Mariano Rivera who actually intentionally walked him unnecessarily last weekend.

If i were putting together a real team -- not a fantasy one -- he and Pedroia would be among my first picks.

[Sir Charles]

Jesus, the Red Sox hang on by a goddamned thread. TB also wins -- it all comes down to tomorrow.

The Sox bullpen is a mess. Bard has completely fallen apart in September. I wonder if he is done. He's got such great stuff, but his ERA is over 12 this month.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

I poured a Bushmill's knowing it would be needed in congratulations or condolence, after the 10th pitch to Markakis. Now I tip my hat and lift my glass.

Have to quote Em. I'd said something about Sir Charles 'tearing his hair out.' Her response: "If he's a long time Red Sox fan, what makes you think he has any more hair than you do?" (I am *ahem* somewhat follicly challenged.)

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

And it looks like the Braves and Cards will be tied as well -- and there are still people who think the Wild Card was a mistake.

[Sir Charles]

It's metaphorical hair loss in my case.

Jesus, how many pitches did Papplebon throw?

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

28, 21 strikes.

Does that mean you use metaphorogaine?

It's one of those nights.

[paula b]

Oh Nancy! Ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha! EC wants FEMA money. What a crock! Are you willing to give up highway $? How aboutschool lunches for your district? Let them eat cake!

[Sir Charles]

Jim,

Ha.

I swear he threw 22 pitches to the last two batters.

[beckya57]

Papelbon did look rocky last night. Pouring in Baltimore; you know the umps don't want to call that one, though I'll bet Sir C wishes they would!

[Sir Charles]

becky,

Thank god the Yankees appear to be doing their part. Now the Sox just have to hang on.

Ortiz getting thrown out trying to stretch a single -- oy! But a brilliant double play by Scutaro and Pedroia kept them in front.

It's a real nail biter.

I at least took advantage of the rain delay to get Stanley out for a walk. The storm wnet through here a little while ago -- it was pretty heavy, with thunder and lightning but it passed. I suspect they are going to wait it out and make them play nine.

[Sir Charles]

Jesus, now the Yanks look like they could blow this thing. Up 7-0 in the 8th, they loaded the bases and gave up two runs on a walk and a hit batsman -- and then another freakin' full count. Ah, yes, a sweet, sweet strikeout.

I am guessing that my pleas to use Rivera over the two innings will fall on deaf ears.

And now a sac fly -- happy to get the out. But it's 7-3 with two on and two out.

[Sir Charles]

OMFG -- Longoria just hit a three run homer and it's 7-6.

This is going to kill me.

[Sir Charles]

And Damon's up.

[beckya57]

Holy sh--. I took my dogs for a walk too, and look what happens!!!!

Have you read Angell, Sir C? You'd love his Bosox stuff--exquisite descriptions of anguish.

[beckya57]

Sorry, Sir C, BBTN says Rivera isn't likely to pitch in this game at all.

You probably won't appreciate this, but I have to admire the Rays. Small (relatively) payroll, smart team, and if they go down it'll be fighting all the way.

[Sir Charles]

becky,

I have read Angell -- he's terrific.

I was pretty sure Rivera was not going to come to our rescue.

TB is quite an admirable team. They really do it the hard way with their low payroll. And they compete. They've owned the Sox this year.

Into the 9th in TB with one out. Holding on by my fingernails. I can't imagine how the Sox are feeling sitting in the club house watching this.

[Sir Charles]

Jesus, Kochman ripped one foul that I thought was a game tier. But now he's out.

Two down and no one on -- Go Yanks!

[Sir Charles]

Unbelievable -- a pinch hit home run with two outs and two strikes. Are you fucking kidding me?

[beckya57]

Sir C, don't do it!! I see you reaching for that noose!!

[beckya57]

Extra innings. God I love baseball.

[Sir Charles]

becky,

The Yanks have now used eleven pitchers -- what the hell do they do if this game drags on? Argh.

Best baseball facts of the night -- on this day in baseball history Ted Williams --in 1941 went 6 for 8 in a double header to finish the year hitting .409; in 1958 he clinched the batting title at age 40, having hit .328 (a sixty point drop from his title winning .388 of the prior year); and in 1960, in his final at bat he hit a home run.

The last act prompting John Updike's brilliant piece "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu."

[Sir Charles]

He hit .406, not .409.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

And now the Yankees are going with Proctor and gamble. (again, h/t Em, from the extra inning game.)

[Sir Charles]

Oh my God -- Scutaro got thrown out at the plate because he lost where Crawford's gap hit went. Jesus.

[Beckya57a]

Good one Jim. Sir C, I was going to correct you on Teddy Ballgame's average, but you beat me to it. The part I like best is that he was at .399+ going into the last day, which rounded to .400; he was offered the day off to protect it, and refused and actually raised his average.

Oops, bad baserunning by Scutaro.

[Sir Charles]

OMG -- Damon just missed a game winner by a scant margin.

[Sir Charles]

Oy and Daniel Bard taking the mound.

The third base coach really blew that -- you would have had second and third with one out. Totally changed the situation with that gamble.

[Beckya57a]

The Red Sox pitching staff had only 2 complete games ALL YEAR???

[Sir Charles]

How Bard, who throws the ball 99 miles per hour with no effort and has a nasty breaking ball to boot, has managed to compile a 12.00 plus ERA in September is beyond me.

Ah, but he got through the inning cleanly, although the last out made my heart skip a beat.

[Sir Charles]

I have to say this is one of the most incredible sports nights I can ever remember.

The Braves -- those poor bastards -- must really be rooting for the Sox to lose, so their disgrace can be mitigated.

Ah, Sox leave the bases loaded and get nothing for it.

It's all on Papplebon again. Go big Jon.

[Beckya57a]

3-2 Boston into the bottom of the 9th. They better hang on, since I'm too tired to talk Sir C down from a ledge. :)

[Beckya57a]

Papelbon again? He's not going to have anything left if they do get in, I'm afraid.

[Sir Charles]

He came out firing -- throwing 97 on the first pitch. Looks like he's got enough gas as long as his control stays sharp.

[Sir Charles]

Damn, two out but then a double off the first pitch. Nothing's easy.

It was a smart move swinging on that first pitch. He looked overpowering, but you figure that first one might be down the heart of the plate and it was.

[Beckya57a]

Uneffingbelievable.

[Sir Charles]

Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck. A 98 mile an hour pitch down the heart and hit for a double.

Tie game and a man on second. They are officially killing me.

[Sir Charles]

They just tore my heart out. ARGGGGGGH!

[Beckya57a]

Oh my God. I don't know what to say.

[Sir Charles]

Oh my God -- Longoria just hit a line drive, barely over the fence home run.

That's it.

What madness.

I have to confess -- I feel like Tampa Bay deserved it more.

[Beckya57a]

Now I've seen everything. Angell likes to say this game will break your heart. Sir C, I'm really sorry.

[Beckya57a]

That last was in response to the Longoria HR.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Another Bushmill's in understanding condolence. But damn iy, after that comeback, the Rays deserved at least a tie.

[Sir Charles]

I've got to admit, I'm a bit amused by it. It was just an incredible night -- throw in the Philly Braves extra inning game and you see why baseball really is special.

[big bad wolf]

wow. at least now i can start rooting for the celts. oh.

that was a classic decline. i couldn't watch the last two games. on the bright side, we have 04 and 07, and the days when the sox always choked were less filled with crazy right-wingers, so i'll pretend this augurs well.