Vic Sage

It's as if Jeremiah Johnson starred in Apocalypse Now, as directed by Terrence Malick. Gorgeous, moving, haunting, tragic and the best movie of the year. Leo is finally going to get his Oscar.

what about ST invitee Travis Taijeron? He's a RHed OFer who probably could be made into a serviceable backup 1bman. His power and ob% intrigues me and he'll cost next to nothing. He's also just turned 27, which is the prime of a hitter's career. I'd take a long hard look at him in ST, and think about whether he may be more useful than a 7th arm in the pen.

Lives on a giant hunting ranch in Oregon. They hunt giants in Oregon? I guess that would explain why so few of them are seen in those parts nowadays.

i had a powder blue suit like that. fuck you... it was the 70s. You'd have to have been there to understand.

If Flores can play 1b, i think the bench is actually fairly balanced and solid. We would have 2 backup OFers (DeAza[LH] /Lagares [RH]) that can both play any OF slot and pinch-hit; You've got 1 Middle IFer (Tejada), who can also play 3b; You've got 1 Corner IFer (Flores), who can also play MI and pinch-hit; and 1 backup catcher. I wouldn't mind another legit bat off the bench, but a backup SS other than Flores is necessary on the roster (though i wouldn't mind replacing Tejada with a really good defensive IFer), so unless the additional bat can play SS, he would have to come at the expense of the 12th man in the pen. I do think deAza is going to be a problem all year, though. The Mets are now spending $5.5M for a 5th OFer/LH pinch-hitter, which probably doesn't make Sandy happy, and deAza didn't sign on to be a bench player, with $1.5M in incentives all but out of reach as a part-timer. Under these circumstances, he'd probably OK a trade before that point in June when teams are allowed to trade their FA signings, but who would want him at that price? He's not a good CFer, and is useless against LHPs, so he's a platoon corner OFer. What sort of market is there for that? I think the Mets are stuck with him and he'll be unhappy all year, unless they're winning, in which case he'll have to keep his unhappiness to himself.

Flores has solid infielder skills; 4 weeks with Keith in ST and he'll be the best fielding 1bman on the roster.

[u:1wq5xz8u]Against RHP:[/u:1wq5xz8u] RF Granderson 2b Walker 1b Duda CF Cespedes LF Conforto 3b Wright C D'Arnaud P SS Cabrera [u:1wq5xz8u]Against LHP[/u:1wq5xz8u]: CF Lagares SS Cabrera 3b Wright LF Cespedes 1b Duda C d'Arnaud 2b Flores P RF Granderson Platooning Conforto/Lagares & Walker/Flores (vLHP) Bench:deAza, Tejada, Plawecki

yippee! I'm as happy as a little girl >.>.

Sharpie, I heard SICARIO was good -- no?

of my top 10, I saw EX-MACHINA and KINGSMEN on cable. I now generally prefer watching at home, due to both the expense of going out as well as the behavior of the movie-going public. Also, the improvement of the technical quality of the home-viewing experience has made it less of a trade off.

Update: HATEFUL 8 Tarantino is carrying on the themes of America's history of racial conflict from DJANGO, this time implying a more hopeful (if ultimately futile) cooperation between the races by the end. And there is a certain Aristotilian unity of time and place, super-imposed on white, mountainous landscapes of snow and cold, with the crucified Christ looking down on the goings on. And there is some darkly funny and truly horrific stuff, with the last half-hour an orgy of blood and guts. And there is his typical use of great 70s-80s era actors (Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell, Lee Horsley) and members of his stock company (Sam Jackson, Michael Madson, Tim Roth), accompanied by another great Morricone score. But i didn't love it. Unlike DJANGO, there is absolutely nobody to root for here, and its slow pace doesn't build in intensity; it's just blah blah blah until... [spoilerS] everybody dies [END SPOILERS]. If the excessive violence had been spread out more, it could've built from 1 killing to the next, but this is like... well, have you ever been nauseated after a night of heavy drinking, and you're just sort of lingering like that for hours, and then you burp, but your burp picks up a hitchhiker and you end up projectile vomiting and shitting yourself all at once? It's sort of like that. And where the fuck did that Tarantino narration come from? It's never established as a storytelling device... it just shows up halfway through the movie, then disappears. wtf? If you want to see a great film in which a bunch of bad guys are stuck in a room before ultimately tearing themselves apart, see the infinitely superior RESERVOIR DOGS. I'm glad i saw H8, and middling Tarantino is better than alot of other stuff, but this one isn't even in Quentin's top 5. Here is my current ranking of all Tarantino-related films: KILL BILL [1 & 2] PULP FICTION RESERVOIR DOGS TRUE ROMANCE * DJANGO UNCHAINED INGLORIOUS BASTERDS HATEFUL 8 JACKIE BROWN FROM DUSK TIL DAWN * GRINDHOUSE (DEATH PROOF segment) ** NATURAL BORN KILLERS * FOUR ROOMS ** * = Story and/or screenplay only ** = Segment only

someone needs to tell them to take better drugs. They don't need to take better drugs; they need to take drugs better.

Clearly. I just don't understand why. You've got the originals available to you in every format conceivable. Doesn't the notion of a new story in that universe, that carries the adventure forward, excite you more than seeing it all again? If not, why not? Seriously, i don't understand. I'm not trying to pick a fight or be obnoxious, i'm just looking for insight.

305 films were eligible this year. Here's what i've seen so far and how i rank them: My top 10 [in order]: The Revenant Mad Max: Fury Road The Big Short Steve Jobs Ex Machina Mr. Holmes Inside Out Kingsman: The Secret Service Spy Trainwreck honorable mentions: Black Mass The Hateful Eight The Martian Star Wars:TFA these were just ok: American Ultra Ant-Man Avengers: Age Of Ultron The Circle The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 Jurassic World Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Sicario Spectre The Visit these were BAD: Fantastic Four Jupiter Ascending The Last Five Years Pitch Perfect 2 Movies i'd still like to see: Absolutely Anything Age of Adeline Anomalisa Bone Tomahawk Bridge Of Spies Creed Crimson Peak The Good Dinosaur Grandma In The Heart Of The Sea Irrational Man Joy Legend The Man from UNCLE Pawn Sacrifice Terminator Genisys Trumbo Victor Frankenstein Movies I'm supposed to pretend i want to see: Amy Beasts Of No Nation Brooklyn Carol The Danish Girl 45 Years Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Room Southpaw Spotlight Straight Outta Compton The Walk All eligible films this past year: Adult Beginners After Words The Age Of Adaline Alleluia Aloft Aloha Altered Minds Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip American Ultra Amy Anomalisa Ant-Man Ardor Avengers: Age Of Ultron Beasts Of No Nation Becoming Bulletproof Before We Go Best Of Enemies Beyond The Reach The Big Short Big Stone Gap Black Mass Blackbird Blackhat Bone Tomahawk A Borrowed Identity The Boy And The Beast Boy And The World The Boy Next Door Boychoir Brand: A Second Coming Bridge Of Spies A Brilliant Young Mind Brooklyn Buen Día, Ramón Burnt By The Sea Captive Capture The Flag Care Of Footpath 2 Carl(a) Carol Cartel Land Carter High Censored Voices Champs Chappie Chi-Raq Child 44 A Christmas Star Cinderella Clouds Of Sils Maria Coming Home Concussion Cop Car Creed Criminal Activities Crimson Peak The Cut The D Train Daddy’s Home The Danish Girl Danny Collins Delka: Stand-Up Tall Or Fall The Diary Of A Teenage Girl The Divergent Series: Insurgent Dixieland Dope The Duke Of Burgundy Dukhtar Eden Effie Gray The End Of The Tour Entourage Escobar: Paradise Lost Everest Every Thing Will Be Fine Ex Machina Experimenter Fantastic Four Far From The Madding Crowd Felt Fifty Shades Of Grey 5 Flights Up 5 To 7 Focus 45 Years Frame By Frame Freaks Of Nature Freedom Freeheld Furious Seven Futuro Beach The Gallows Gemma Bovery Get Hard The Gift Girlhood Gloria Godspeed: The Story Of Page Jones The Good Dinosaur Good Kill Goodnight Mommy Goosebumps Grandma Guidance Hamlet’s Ghost The Hateful Eight He Named Me Malala Heaven Knows What Hemalkasa Hitman: Agent 47 Home Hot Pursuit Hot Tub Time Machine 2 Hotel Transylvania 2 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 The Hunting Ground I Smile Back I’ll See You In My Dreams In The Heart Of The Sea Infinitely Polar Bear Ingrid Bergman - In Her Own Words Inside Out The Intern Irrational Man It Follows Jalam James White Jem And The Holograms Jenny’s Wedding Jimmy’s Hall Joy Jupiter Ascending Jurassic World Just Before I Go Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet Killing Them Safely Kingsman: The Secret Service Krampus Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck La Jaula De Oro Labyrinth Of Lies The Lady In The Van Lambert & Stamp The Last Five Years The Last Witch Hunter The Laws Of The Universe - Part 0 Learning To Drive Legend A LEGO Brickumentary The Letters Lila And Eve Little Accidents The Longest Ride The Look Of Silence Lost Birds Lost River Love & Mercy Love At First Fight Macbeth Mad Max: Fury Road Maggie Magic Mike XXL The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Manglehorn The Martian Match Max Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials McFarland, USA Me And Earl And The Dying Girl Meadowland Mediterranea Meru Minions Misery Loves Comedy Miss You Already Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation Mississippi Grind Mr. Holmes Mistress America Moomins On The Riviera Mortdecai Muhammad: The Messenger Of God Mustang My All American Nachom-Ia Kumpasar The Night Before 99 Homes No Escape The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared Our Brand Is Crisis Pan Paper Towns Paranoid Girls Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Paulo Coelho’s Best Story Pawn Sacrifice The Peanuts Movie The Perfect Guy Pink & Blue: Colors Of Hereditary Cancer Pitch Perfect 2 Pixels Poached Pod Point Break Poltergeist Project Almanac Queen And Country Racing Extinction Rangitaranga Regular Show: The Movie Remember A Reunion The Revenant Ricki And The Flash Ride The Thunder - A Vietnam War Story Of Victory & Betrayal The Road Within Rock The Kasbah Room The Rumperbutts Run All Night Saint Laurent Salt Bridge The Salvation Samba San Andreas Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Secret In Their Eyes Serena Set Fire To The Stars Seventh Son ‘71 Seymour: An Introduction Sharkskin Shaun The Sheep Movie Shelter Sicario Sisters Sleeping With Other People Son Of Saul Southpaw Spectre The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water Spotlight Spy The Stanford Prison Experiment Star Wars: The Force Awakens Steve Jobs Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans Stonewall Straight Outta Compton Strange Magic Suffragette The Summer Of Sangaile Sweet Micky For President Taken 3 Tangerine Ted 2 10,000 Km Terminator Genisys Testament Of Youth These Final Hours The 33 Time Out Of Mind Tinker Bell And The Legend Of The Neverbeast Tom At The Farm Tomorrowland Trainwreck The Tribe True Story Trumbo Truth Twinsters Two Men In Town Uncle John Unfinished Business Unfriended Vacation Victor Frankenstein Victoria The Visit The Walk A Walk In The Woods War Room The Water Diviner We Are Your Friends The Wedding Ringer Welcome To Me When Marnie Was There Where To Invade Next While We’re Young White God The Widowmaker Wolf Totem The Wolfpack Woman In Gold Xenia You Carry Me Youth Z For Zachariah

...it has flaws, sure, and borrows a bit much from the original... borrows a bit much? Ya think? Quick, tell me which movie this is: 1. There’s a droid carrying valuable information who finds himself on a desolate desert planet. 2. There’s a Force-sensitive, masked, and darkly clothed antagonist who arrives on the scene shortly after the information is handed off, looking for the droid. 3. There’s a desert settlement that is wiped out by storm troopers. 4. There’s a hero who’s tortured by the bad guys to retrieve the information. 5. There’s a lonely, orphaned, Force-strong desert dweller who dreams of more and ends up adopting the droid and getting sucked up into an epic adventure. 6. There’s a worldly old warrior who has to explain the Force to the next generation. 7. There’s a cruel military officer (Nazi-like, with a British accent) who holds a comparable level of authority to his Force-sensitive, masked, and darkly clothed colleague. 8. There’s a mostly unseen supreme evil (depicted via hologram) that’s pulling the strings from the shadows. 9. There’s a criminal element that’s owed a debt by Han Solo and attempts to kill him after he screws up their arrangement (Hopefully, a long time from now, we won't have to wonder who shot first) 10. There’s a cantina filled with various alien creatures. 11. There’s a moment when one of the heroes abandons the fight as a self-preservation measure, but he eventually returns to help save the day. 12. There’s a massive spherical weapon that’s used to destroy a planet, 13. There’s a base belonging to the rebel forces on a forest-covered world. 14. There’s a surrogate father figure who is cut down by someone previously close to him, who has turned to the dark side. 15. The hero watches helplessly from afar as the surrogate father figure is slayed. 16. There’s a coordinated aerial attack on the massive spherical planet-killing weapon that’s monitored from a control room by Leia. 17. There’s a trench that X-wings flew through in order to fire on a vulnerability in the weapon and destroy it. 18. There’s a massive explosion that gives the rebels a major victory but likely allows the Force-sensitive, masked, and darkly clothed antagonist to survive to fight another day. 19. All presented with a bombastic John Williams score... ...and i'm not even warmed up yet. [note: this isn't my list... i cribbed it off the internet. There are lots of even more specific lists of mirrored plot points, if anyone cares enough to look.] It's not like the similarities are accidental, occasional or superficial. they are massive, significant and obviously intentional. Why? I guess because they think that's what we wanted. And the fact that the movie is already the biggest film ever supports that notion. But why? Why did we want to see the same movie again? You can recapture the magic and wonder of the original trilogy without regurgitating every-fucking-plot-point, like we're brain-damaged. They could have picked it up 35 years later, and gone from there, while still giving us some moments that echoed the original without just rebooting them. I want to see the adventure CONTINUE, not just REPEAT. i'm confused about why this is ok with so many folks.

Generalization is good. Specialization is bad. In my world (and I do aim to someday have one), professional baseball rosters will be limited to about 16 players. Everybody will have to hit. Everybody will have to play multiple positions. Most everybody will eventually be called on to pitch an inning here or there, including being called in from the outfield to warm up mid-inning. And the human person will shine and God will we glorified. i was right there with you, right up to that last bit... but mileage varies on that point, so... yeah.

what's the difference between constantly updated version of STRAT, played in real time over the course of a season, and Rotisserie Baseball? It sounds like they've just incorporated fantasy baseball into their brand. But the beauty of Strat was always the "69 Mets vs 1986 Mets" kind of game.

Tarantino is carrying on the themes of America's history of racial conflict from DJANGO, this time implying a more hopeful (if ultimately futile) cooperation between the races by the end. And there is a certain Aristotilian unity of time and place, super-imposed on white, mountainous landscapes of snow and cold, with the crucified Christ looking down on the goings on. And there is some darkly funny and truly horrific stuff, with the last half-hour an orgy of blood and guts. And there is his typical use of great 70s-80s era actors (Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell, Lee Horsley) and members of his stock company (Sam Jackson, Michael Madson, Tim Roth), accompanied by another great Morricone score. But i didn't love it. Unlike DJANGO, there is absolutely nobody to root for here, and its slow pace doesn't build in intensity; it's just blah blah blah until... [spoilerS] everybody dies [END SPOILERS]. If the excessive violence had been spread out more, it could've built from 1 killing to the next, but this is like... well, have you ever been nauseated after a night of heavy drinking, and you're just sort of lingering like that for hours, and then you burp, but your burp picks up a hitchhiker and you end up projectile vomiting and shitting yourself all at once? It's sort of like that. And where the fuck did that Tarantino narration come from? It's never established as a storytelling device... it just shows up halfway through the movie, then disappears. wtf? If you want to see a great film in which a bunch of bad guys are stuck in a room before ultimately tearing themselves apart, see the infinitely superior RESERVOIR DOGS. I'm glad i saw H8, and middling Tarantino is better than alot of other stuff, but this one isn't even in Quentin's top 5. Tarantino filmography: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=18827&p=493057&hilit=tarantino#p493057

This is why it's Ralph's world, and we just reside in it. [His highness gives a kingly wave from his royal palanquin] "I live in service to my people!"

Suggestion: Piggie's Garden, an onsite, year-round rooftop (community?) farm supplying all City Field (I like the name, stripped of corporate affiliation) concessions. DOH! I totally thought of that and then forgot to include it! (not the supplying of of concessions, part, but the community vegetable garden part -- but your idea is better.)

themetfairy wrote: d'Kong76 wrote: Vic Sage wrote: Then, i'll watch the games from my suite, sitting with my friends, being served nathan's hot dogs and Brooklyn Lager by Hooter's Girls Can we have french fries too? Love Nathan's fries. And Carvel ice cream helmets for dessert? i assumed all that would go without saying. Plus, Fudgie the whale! and Pizza and Spumoni from L & B Spumoni Gardens!

i'd go along with that plan. but i also think i'm going to win Powerball.

Didn't the Jets sign an Australian Rugby player a few years ago? Or did i dream that?

premise: I have enough money to own 100% of the Mets and i buy them. If so, i would treat the team as a charitable foundation and: * Give 49% of the team to the City (in exchange for city improvement of roads, access, public transportation, parking, maintenance, and urban development of the local community), and allowing them the veto authority over any move of the franchise and public review of the team's finances; * Build new stadium (at least 60,000 seats), based on classical architecture (no retro, no "modern" [which dates even faster than "retro"], to be called "Metropolis Field", with no obstructed views, a retractable roof and the highest tech score board that can be produced by ILM, and specifically designated areas of the park (the Krane Pool, Kiner's Korner, the Strawberry Patch, Payson Pavillion); with ads and concessions only from NY-based businesses; and with the stadium, grounds and common areas designed with statues, gardens, murals and other commissioned art celebrating the history of the team (including its national league baseball antecedents), plus an interactive Mets Museum and Hall of Fame (accessible to the general public year round); * 1000 free tickets per game to local schools, camps and hospitals, plus cool giveaways for every fan at games Monday-Thursday and Sunday afternoons; * NY Heroes Game on Sunday closest to 9/11, with players wearing 1st Responder hats and free tickets to any family of first responders who died as a direct result of 9/11; * Mets Old Timer's Game and a Future's game, on Weekend before the All-Star break; * Free Broadcast local TV package of at least 10 games; * Using the facilities for Community-based services when no games are scheduled (food drives, public concerts, green markets, job and health fairs, etc); * 1 Home uni, 1 road uni, 1 throwback uni for special events (and no black); * SNY features more baseball-related content than just the games (documentaries, talk shows, game shows, news, interviews, analysis, movies, dramas, sitcoms, mini-series, etc), with an on-demand archive of every broadcast in Mets history that still exists; * Hire management with respect for quantitative analysis, and the resources to establish best scouting system in baseball (including academies in Cuba, Mexico, DR, Japan, Korea, Australia and Europe), and a minor league system with all teams in the northeast and southeast, including the purchase of the Long Island Ducks, and making them our AAA affiliate, and a guarantee that the Mets will maintain a 25-man roster with a budget among the top 25% of teams every year. Then, i'll watch the games from my suite, sitting with my friends, being served nathan's hot dogs and Brooklyn Lager by Hooter's Girls, stopping into the booth once in a while to chat with Gary, Howie, Ron and Keith, to tell the fans what i REALLY think. Until the day I die; at which point the remaining ownership will also go to the city, with my family maintaining an ongoing profit participation and luxury box in perpetuity.

Absolutely this. It's one thing for a GM to mislead (or outright lie) for strategic reasons, to help improve the club. It's another thing to just shill for incompetent and/or corrupt ownership and then call the fans morons for daring to call him on it. There was no baseball reason to say what he said. He was just a dog fetching his master's slippers. Given his age, health and career accomplishments, he shouldn't feel compelled to kiss Wilponian ass. He doesn't need the job that badly. Life is short. As a Sandy supporter, i'm deeply disappointed in him. And, with regard to ownership, I have to disagree with brother CF and say i never bought their "we'll spend more when you buy more tickets" line. The economic info was out there for anybody to read (whether from Megdal or other sources) and i had no doubt they were full of shit. But i agree that this doesn't absolve them. Rather than shrug and say "well, owners/gms lie", and "i knew it", its imperative for the media and fans to actually call bullshit, say we know we're being lied to, and let public pressure build. To what purpose? Do i think we can actually pressure MLB to pull a McCourt on the Wilpons? I don't know. It's unlikely, given the very different relationship that mets ownership has with the league office than the Dodgers did. But, just as i vote for the candidate i prefer, regardless of what i estimate his chances are of victory (I'd vote for Nader again tomorrow), i will call a corrupt bonehead a corrupt bonehead, regardless of the consequences. This has been a message from PAW -- Philosophers Against Wilpon -- shaking our PAW at the sky since 1942.