Congrats on your story being published in he "So It Goes" journal. That's so exciting!
// MLB playoffs
The MLB postseason... I'd say I'm more of a fan of the MLB season. MLB is unique in having such a high quantity of games for their regular season. Benefits from this high number of games:
1. The reliability of having games every day from April to September. That integrates it more with the cultural fabric.
2. A deep rich set of data to analyze. Better sample size yields more accurate assessments.
3. Better comebacks. A team that loses 10 games in a row can still perform well over the long-haul.
4. Exciting record chases. With so many games, players have the opportunity to pursue historic records.
5. More opportunity to attend games.
The postseason... while the World Series is totally exciting... sometimes it's almost a sort of game of luck at that point. Which I guess is maybe what makes it exciting.
Some people get upset that a team like the Diamondbacks with a negative run differential gets into the World Series. Yeah, well, that's what happens when we open up the postseason to to many teams. Frankly, I don't care who is really in the World Series since it's a lot of luck at that point.
In some ways, I can appreciate the pre-1969 days when the World Series was simply the best team in the NL and the best team in the AL. Certainly, that doesn't make for as exciting of a season though. I'm curious what it was like to be a baseball fan in that era, where you pretty much knew who was going to the World Series. Did it make people care less? Or did they just have less sporting entertainment options?
I've been meaning to look over all MLB's stats to see which teams had the best record the longest. Which seasons had the most change of first place teams. Someday I'll write together the R code to pull that info.
// Reading
I've been terrible at reading too. My reading time is spent playing Candy Land and Cupcake Party. For awhile, my oldest was pretty good at reading for 15 minutes or so before we leave for the walk to school. And that granted me some reading time. But then she's shifted to playing games. Not complaining. I'm trying to enjoy this kid time while it lasts.
// Rickey Henderson biography
Back in the eBook peak of the early 2010s, I wanted to read a biography on Rickey Henderson, but for some reason I wanted it as an eBook, which wasn't available. So I cut the spine off, and ran the pages through a document scanner. I never ended up reading the book--digital or in print.
// Hamlet
Happy birthday, Hamlet! I'm glad you enjoyed your cute cake!
First of all, congratulations on being published, that's exciting!
Second, I think that Smithsonian video is fantastic, a fun way to start a Friday morning in chilly Vermont :) and I can totally agree that the serving video is perfect for reading kitchy Sci Fi because it was probably the soundtrack for it back in the day. On a tangentially related theme: Leonard Nemoy albums.
Thirdly, when I was in college, the dad of one of my classmates had invented the Kudos bar and brought in hundreds of cases of them, by helicopter, and put them in the middle of the quad. We all raced out to get some and then spent the rest of the semester eating FAR too many of them. I still get a bit queasy thinking about it.
Congrats on your story being published in he "So It Goes" journal. That's so exciting!
// MLB playoffs
The MLB postseason... I'd say I'm more of a fan of the MLB season. MLB is unique in having such a high quantity of games for their regular season. Benefits from this high number of games:
1. The reliability of having games every day from April to September. That integrates it more with the cultural fabric.
2. A deep rich set of data to analyze. Better sample size yields more accurate assessments.
3. Better comebacks. A team that loses 10 games in a row can still perform well over the long-haul.
4. Exciting record chases. With so many games, players have the opportunity to pursue historic records.
5. More opportunity to attend games.
The postseason... while the World Series is totally exciting... sometimes it's almost a sort of game of luck at that point. Which I guess is maybe what makes it exciting.
Some people get upset that a team like the Diamondbacks with a negative run differential gets into the World Series. Yeah, well, that's what happens when we open up the postseason to to many teams. Frankly, I don't care who is really in the World Series since it's a lot of luck at that point.
In some ways, I can appreciate the pre-1969 days when the World Series was simply the best team in the NL and the best team in the AL. Certainly, that doesn't make for as exciting of a season though. I'm curious what it was like to be a baseball fan in that era, where you pretty much knew who was going to the World Series. Did it make people care less? Or did they just have less sporting entertainment options?
I've been meaning to look over all MLB's stats to see which teams had the best record the longest. Which seasons had the most change of first place teams. Someday I'll write together the R code to pull that info.
// Reading
I've been terrible at reading too. My reading time is spent playing Candy Land and Cupcake Party. For awhile, my oldest was pretty good at reading for 15 minutes or so before we leave for the walk to school. And that granted me some reading time. But then she's shifted to playing games. Not complaining. I'm trying to enjoy this kid time while it lasts.
// Rickey Henderson biography
Back in the eBook peak of the early 2010s, I wanted to read a biography on Rickey Henderson, but for some reason I wanted it as an eBook, which wasn't available. So I cut the spine off, and ran the pages through a document scanner. I never ended up reading the book--digital or in print.
// Hamlet
Happy birthday, Hamlet! I'm glad you enjoyed your cute cake!
1. That cumbia is so great, thanks! Can't wait to spend the dark winter listening to something so bright.
2. Good luck with your scifi adventure, there's so much MORE out there now, with so many voices, that it's really fun to explore.
First of all, congratulations on being published, that's exciting!
Second, I think that Smithsonian video is fantastic, a fun way to start a Friday morning in chilly Vermont :) and I can totally agree that the serving video is perfect for reading kitchy Sci Fi because it was probably the soundtrack for it back in the day. On a tangentially related theme: Leonard Nemoy albums.
Thirdly, when I was in college, the dad of one of my classmates had invented the Kudos bar and brought in hundreds of cases of them, by helicopter, and put them in the middle of the quad. We all raced out to get some and then spent the rest of the semester eating FAR too many of them. I still get a bit queasy thinking about it.