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Monster

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Posts posted by Monster

  1. 27 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

    Russell is hardly untouchable and a better defensive SS than Baez, but I would agree that Baez is more than good enough and above average that he could overtake Russell based on offensive production he would provide over Russell. My point again is that you called Russell a below average defensive SS which is laughable when he is probably top 2-3 overall in all of baseball. 

    Career-wise, I could maybe agree with your Russell defensive rank.  We'll have to agree to disagree with regards to his 2018 season.  

    So when KB gets back, if Bote is still playing the way he is now, offensively and defensively....what do you do?

  2. 28 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

    This is beyond wrong and I don't know how to help you. Lindor has 13 errors this season as well, are you call him a below average defensive SS? Simmons has 8 does that place him in the middle of defensive SS? You are also moving Bryant to 2nd base, a position he has never played. Now I am not saying that moving Baez to SS might not be a bad idea, but calling Russell a below average defensive SS is beyond stupid. So you are saying that a SS with lesser range, that gets to less ground balls and as a result makes less errors is more valuable. 

    Baez has less range than Russell?   I can't even tell what you're arguing at this point...the validity of your cherry-picked stats?   

    But okay...if it's your lineup, and Russell is untouchable (despite his team low OPS and imo, defensive medicority), how do you get Bote onto the field?   

     

  3. 35 minutes ago, JimmyHoffa said:

    I'm guessing nobody missed it but just in case they did-

     

     

     

    Just unreal. And Bote's story is one that happens a lot in baseball and people just don't know about it. A few highlights from twitter last night-

     

    Kane County is the Cubs Low A ball affiliate-

     

    Also crazy when you think about what some of the borderline guys go through to  make it to that moment-

     

     

    Possibly the first time that happened in MLB history, (absolutely the first time it has happened in modern baseball history) Down 3-0, bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, 2 outs, 2 strikes. 

     

     

    It was the most dramatic ending a baseball game can have.    

    They mentioned he wasn't hitting all that well in the minors, but those stats are amazing compared to what he's done so far in the big leagues.  He's a great underdog story and seems like a good guy.  

    • Like 1
  4. 28 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

    Russell is 3rd out of all MLB shortstops in defensive runs saves, and 6th overall out of all positions in defensive war. Comparing his fielding% to other positions on the team is really meaningless.

    So you're saying that committing errors when the ball is hit to you, is meaningless.   But being in the game when your team wins is very significant?  What a weird and random argument.   Russell's 14 errors is tied for the most in the national league (any position).    I'm not saying he's horrible, but he's been below average, league-wise, defensively.     And he has the lowest OPS for any position player on the team.   I like Russell, but if I want to get Bote into the lineup, I'm platooning Russell.  

    I had to look up 'Defense runs saved'.   That's an interesting, but rather abstract stat, honestly.  (What was his fielding % with with balls hit to this or that exact point on the field.  How did he do with balls that were projected to be caught 60% of the time based on trajectory/speed).   Not discounting it, but I'm not sure it trumps actual errors made.

     

  5. 2 hours ago, Dewey said:

    Figuring out where to play Bot when KB gets back is a good problem. Whoever is the minor league coach that tweaked his swing, give the guy a raise. Home run to tie a game and now a GS to win a game. 320 avg, guy has been a savior this season at the plate and in the field.

    And apparently hitting the ball harder (avg velocity) than anyone else in the entire league.  

    If I took the names off the jerseys and was confident there'd be zero emotional fallout, I'd move Baez to short and KB to second base and leave Bote at 3rd.  KB's fielding % is .959 (2nd worst for a position player on the team after La Stella).   Bote's fielding % is 1.000

    Russell has 14 errors already (3rd worst fielding % on the team) and looks distracted some games...combine that with a .266 batting average, and he's odd man out, for me, unless something changes by the time KB gets back.

  6. 28 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

    Send down De La Rosa?

    But how do you keep Bote on the field?  Definitely hitting better than Russell, but not sure I've ever seen someone go from 3rd to short stop before...outfield maybe?  Just seems a waste to leave him on the bench all game...he's playing as well as anyone on the team.

  7. Doesn't get much more exciting than that ending. 

    What do you do with Bote when Bryant comes back?   

    Bote's batting .320 on the year, just pinch hit-grand slam-walk offed in a nationally televised game, and plays a great 3rd base.  Maybe better defensively than Bryant.

  8. On 7/31/2018 at 10:18 PM, Prepuce of Doom said:

    Can someone please remind me exactly what it is that Creepy Grandma wants from Jesse? What's the debt? 

    I don't think she's said, exactly.  Show is still very creative and has some pretty good moments, but it's never been quite the same since the two angel guys 'died'.  They were the best part of the show.   I just don't find Tulip or Jesse all that engaging. Vampire guy's still entertainting.

    And why does every villain in every show I'm currently watching need to identify himself as Christian?  I thought it was funny for a while.  A nice break from all bad guys being Muslim...but this year, its like every single show I start watching, the arch villain goes out of his way to identify himself as Christian.    The religious/political propaganda is starting to spoil some of these shows for me.  If they'd mix in a few Jewish villains, I wouldn't say anything.  But its starting to feel like there's an agenda.

  9. 28 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

    The danger with this is the truth can get lost and when that happens, it’s over.

    Major media companies and politicians should be held to a higher standard to stick to facts. 

    When the population is bombarded with falsehoods 24/7, the truth gets destroyed.

    Without truth, there is no democracy, justice, or liberty for all.

    I'd argue that 'populations being bombarded with falsehoods' has been going on for a very, very long time...

    I'd offer, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that populations have been bombarded with falsehoods since the first time a group of humanoids gathered around a fire, trying to decide what 'the community' should do next.  

    Human beings will always lie to get what they want and 'the truth' is often a matter of perspective.  Has our 'public forum' become more pervasive?  Almost inescapably so.  Again, I'm just glad we're having this conversation and that people are learning to consider the possibility that maybe, sometimes, media companies and politicians might not be giving you the full, unadorned truth.

  10. 9 hours ago, triplehorn said:

    This is about way more than memes and stupid people. 

    It's about generating scientifically tested psychotypes, appealing to unconscious emotional processes, and repeatedly incorporating false information and propaganda tailored to individuals on a mass scale to grossly alter the perceptions and responses of millions of citizens for a predictable outcome.  It's similar to people not giving informed consent to be manipulated as a test subject in weapons grade psy-ops program.

     

    By this definition, TV commercials are psy-ops.  CNN/Foxnews is doing psy-ops.  ALL political campaigns are psy-ops.   Churches/Synagogues/Mosques are doing psy-ops.  Movies/tv shows are often engage in subtle, even artistic, psy-ops. Message board arguers are doing psy-ops. 

    Anywhere there is a medium for public speaking, someone is trying to get you to believe something...sometimes with the intent to make the world a better place, but mostly for personal gain.   

    Assuming our world doesn't get completely destroyed, or irreversibly poisoned, during the next 2+ years, I think talking about 'fake news' is actually be a good thing, despite the orange man crying about it, being an integral part of the fake news problem. 

    If it gets people to think twice about the messages they're getting from their tv/social media stream, and we survive the next 2+ years, I think its a net gain.   

     

  11. 12 hours ago, Anastasis said:

    Somebody posts a meme of Jesus arm wrestling Satan on the Internet.

     

    The American Republic and Democracy is brought to it's knees.

     

    02dc-ads-army-of-jesus-superJumbo.png?qu

     If posting facebook memes is voter manipulation--if that's what we're talking about here---not ballot fraud...then maybe the problem isn't the Russians, or social media...maybe its our education system.  Maybe we are paying the price for not teaching people to think for themselves.   I'm starting to think we're blaming the Russians, because we don't want to admit we (or a lot of us+ our electoral college) elected a known asshole/game-show host.  TheRussiansDidThis.gif

    We're still talking about fake articles and memes right?  Not voter/ballot fraud, right? 

    Also think the military-industrial complex are ready for another US-Russia cold war because cold wars print money.    

    • Like 4
  12. 3 hours ago, Bartles said:

    I have to think that sequence was just poking the audience with a "Wait, is that Walter?" moment. That was my thought briefly but I quickly remembered Walt had hair in BB/Season 1 so it wasn't him. But the neighborhood and the wide shot could easily trick a viewer.

    That'd be a weird thing to put in a premiere, but he did look like walt and I did have that thought...'wait, is that...' 

  13. Visual story telling has to be slow because they aren't using dialogue to tell us what's going on....in fact, the dialogue often contradicts what the characters are actually feeling .  They are giving you extra time in every scene, so you can stare at the screen and piece together the puzzle of what's happening.   It's a slow, tedious, way of telling a story, but it's also very rewarding for a viewer, because you're 'figuring it out yourself' instead of being spoonfed the plot with dialogue and exposition.    Committing to the visual story telling style  and letting the viewer 'figure it out' is what makes  BB and BCS special. 

    That said, I can only watch two people ride in silence in a car and slowly park their car for so long before it gets a little frustrating.   And do I really need to watch the dad retool his kid's bike chain before slowly walking back to his car to search his briefcase for 30 seconds?  That kid and his bike better be part of the story later, otherwise, that's straight time-filler bullshit.   

    These show runners have earned my trust with creative plots and interesting payoffs, so I'm in for the duration, but I can't imagine watching that episode again.   

     

    • Like 3
  14. Checked out "Fauda" after seeing the recommendations.   

    Opening scene, muslim terrorist in a mosque.  Thought...not this again, I hope.  Checked out the summary, to see if there was a twist or fresh take on the 'muslims are terrorists' genre.

    "Israeli agent comes out of retirement to hunt down Palestinian militant....blah blah blah".

    Same  shtick I've been watching for the last 20 years.   Is there a twist or something that will keep me reading subtitles for 12 episodes?  I've seen the 'muslim dirty bomb' premise so many times, it feels less like a story and more like brainwashing.  

    • Like 1
  15. Just finished 'The Staircase'. 

    Episodes leading up the the end of the first trail were absolutely eye-opening about the American legal system.   The scene where the defense attorney brings in a pro to help Peterson appear to be telling the truth really drove home the theatrical nature of a trial.

    DA could have spent the entire trial pointing at the photos of the murder scene and won.   Because the defense's argument was so laughably implausible --- His wife fell down three steps and had the back of her head ripped apart with blood splatter all over the walls?  THREE STAIRS.  And she kept slipping around, hammering her own head against the walls.   Seriously, that was their argument.   She fell down 3 stairs, kept slipping around, repeatedly bashing her head against the walls, spray blood all over the place, until she bled out.  While he sat outside by the pool.  That's what they asked the jury to believe.       

    DA guessing at the murder weapon was dumb.    Last 7-8 episodes of listening to Peterson lie and act indignant (and himself) was not worth watching.   I'd recommend fast forwarding to the conclusion, unless you want to watch defense lawyers try to find technical mistakes in procedure. (and one of his daughters act incredulous about the grieving family)

     

  16. Killing half of earth's population would only set our clock back about 40 years....so 3.8 Billion dead would put us at 1975 density...

    V1vsZPI.jpg?1

    Maybe other planets don't reproduce as fast?  Otherwise, killing half the population is a relatively short-term fix.  He needed to kill 95% of the population to really buy the universe some time.

    jHnsS0H.jpg?1

  17. 4 episodes in and it's still going strong.    Very underrated show.   Not sure how a show with these names attached to it can fly under the radar, but apparently, it is.  If you like creepy, psychological mysteries, it's worth watching. 

  18. On 8/4/2018 at 11:26 AM, Js1 said:

    2019 or 2020.

    Chris Rock.

    Not even set in Minnesota.

    Huge time jump back to the 50s

    Will be interesting to see how they tie it in...because that sounds like a completely different tv show.

  19. On ep 6.  Outstanding so far.  Smart characters outmaneuvering each other by doing smart things...instead of relying on people tripping over sticks and making mind-numbingly stupid decisions.  When there's a pause in the action and the characters start talking philosophically, they usually say objective and well-reasoned things.  Takes a smart group of writers to write this kind of show.  

    That said, this last episode felt like the story was starting to turn into a Christian vs Muslim thing (with Jews being conspicuously absent from all the secret, global scheming.)     The show has been full of insight and honest takes on world politics, so I'll be disappointed if they vilify one (or two) religions, while presenting the third as an innocent bystander...with the writer/director/producer representing 'team innocent bystander'.   

    I can squint my eyes, like I often have to do so often when watching hollywood-produced spy shows, because the dialogue here really is great and the cat and mouse play is very nuanced.  But these writers seem capable of saying something significant, if they'll bring all three teams equally to task.   

     

     

     

  20. Watched Fahrenheit 451 reboot. 

    Was bracing for a lot of philosophy and predictable plot...and while that was the case, it was very up-to-date.

    There was an excellent scene in the middle, where Michael Shannon explains why books are being burned which was surprisingly relevant.   (Offended groups calling for bans of specific books at first--racially and gender insensitive works...which snowballed into 'lets just get rid of them all, since people are getting upset and thinking hurts our feelings')

    So, not sure its a movie I'd recommend, but that scene was very effective.

  21. Just watched the first episode.  Thought it was outstanding.  Great dialogue, creepy atmosphere, strong actor choices, lots of subtle visual clues to flesh out the exposition, and a general weird/mysteriousness that reminded me  of 'The Leftovers'.  

    Tons of potential.  Really hope they can keep this up because that first episode had my full attention.  

    • Like 1
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