Vic Sage

...the ones from the good years of 2006 & '07 well, good in the sense that we won more than we lost anyway, but not so much how they ended, particularly 07.

yes, shoehorning in that love story was unnecessary but they do it all the time.

The ambiguity comes from the Snow Queen first being thought of as a villain, but evolving into a co-protagonist over the course of the story, as we learn its the "prince" who is the real villain of the piece, and as Elsa is ultimately redeemed by her sister's love. And I had no problem with that at all. Elsa is a child torn by guilt over her powers and the danger they posed to everyone (particularly the little sister she almost kills because she can't control it). She is raised in total isolation, ruled by fear... her parents' fear, and then fear of herself, and never able to let herself be who she really is. How awful is that? How fucking awful? And when her people discover who she really is, she is forced to flee, once again facing complete isolation from her home, her people, from her sister. But at that moment, heartbroken, she is finally able to fully embrace her own power and sings a homage to that power. It has the same "girl power" energy of Elphaba's song "Defying Gravity" and struck the exact same cultural chord in the tween-girl marketplace that launched both works over the moon. And like Elphaba, she owes no one any apologies. Elsa is a dangerous force of nature, and it is her own sense of responsibility that makes her isolate herself. Her actions later are in self-defense, but the injury to her sister is accidental, once again plucking the deep note of guilt she has always carried about endangering her baby sister. But make no mistake; while not a "villain", Elsa is not the hero either. Anna is the protagonist of the story. She makes the heroic quest, she acts out of pure love, and ultimately she redeems her sister, finally changing her sister's physical nature and saving the kingdom. And Elsa couldn't be happier about it. The story spins alot of the standard hero/villain cliches around by first making us think that Elsa will be the hero, then seeming to make her the villain, before revealing the handsome prince to be the real villain. And the rebuffed little sister never gives up, rising to become a hero by loving her powerful sister in the face of nature's fury and thus, relieved of that burden of isolation, the snow queen becomes Anna's loving human big sister once again. Disney has done alot worse by a lot better pre-existing fairy tales. By just using SNOW QUEEN as a jumping off point, and introducing a mature notion of ambiguity, they were able to create a really moving story of sisterhood for the modern tween girl audience and, as a result... cachiiiiing.... hit the jackpot.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Vic Sage wrote: All this, CF, and a bag of chips. But i am kind of sick of people calling a 25-year old man a "kid". It's not true, and all it does is deflect his own culpability. In fact he's not a "kid"; he's a jock who has apparently lived in a bubble of entitlement since he became a BMOC for giving swirlies to his middle school nerd classmates and then went out and won the "big game". We all know the type. We all went to school with guys like him; for all i know, some of us HERE were guys like him. Not all the rules of civilization apply to this kind of guy; when they suddenly do, he takes umbrage and acts, as Edgy quite rightly characterized it, petulantly. But here's the thing... I DON'T CARE. He can be fucking supermodels in pairs, flipping off fans, tweeting pictures of his dick, and living the high life all he wants, as long as he takes the ball every 5th day, puts up big numbers, and beats the Braves like a fucking gong. I don't have to like him. I just want him to be great and to help my team win. Is it nicer to root for a guy like David "Captain America" Wright? Yes, it's nicer. But it ain't a necessary condition of my support. Will all the gnashing of teeth over this drive him away in free agency? who can say? But I'd guess that the Wilpons economic circumstances at that time will have a hell of a lot more to do with it than whining fans. On a side note, i completely agree with Edgy's view of internet "journalism" which in my view is (as Hunter Thompson said of objective journalism) a pompous contradiction in terms. When journalism serves a societal function, it's because people can trust the news they are getting. That trust is borne out of professional standards, codes of conduct that journalists took seriously for centuries because they were potentially liable for libel if they didn't. Multiple sources, fact checking, attempts at balance, and consequences for failing to meet those standards. None of this exists with any consistency in the wild wild internettian west. People post rumors as if they were facts; they get reposted by aggregating sites without comment, they get referenced as support for subsequent reports denying the original reports, and its all an echo chamber of bullshit deafening everyone and drowning out real journalism in a deluge of unchecked facts, unverified quotes, unidentified sources. And then the professionals, increasingly irrelevant as professionalism is trumped by amateurism, rush to paddle over the same waterfall out of desperation to keep an audience and a job. But the jobs are going away; print is being swept into the dustbin of history, along with the standards of professionalism they maintained for generations. And we are abandoned to an unintelligible cacophony of contradicting and baseless white noise, all sound and fury signifying nothing more than our disinterest in distinguishing what is true from what is entertaining. If we were still living in a democracy, i'd be concerned. But for an oligarchy, we're right on schedule, because all they need to provide us with is bread and circuses. That's like a $5 million post. I'm still waiting for my check!

Disney's already working on the stage version, with those songwriters, Bobby and Kristen Lopez.

I saw Frank Langella as Nixon in FROST/NIXON, both on Broadway and on film, Anthony Hopkins in Oliver Stone's NIXON, Jon Cusack in THE BUTLER, John Tobin in TRANSFORMERS: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, Stuart Milligan in 2 episodes of DR. WHO, Robert Wisden in WATCHMEN, Dan Ackyroyd on numerous episodes of SNL, and Dan Hedaya in DICK. Does that count?

Agreed. Otherwise, how much patience does Sandy show with a guy whose arguably a AAAA player, when Lutz, Campbell and Seratelli are doing the job as RHed bats off the bench who can play the corners, and they may be itching to get Flores up here as soon as his bat gets hot? It never seemed to me that Satin had too much support within the org, but he just got hot last year and earned at least first shot of repeating it in this role. I hope he does start hitting, because i've always liked his game and hoped he'd get a shot. now he has to do something with it, and soon.

This is not the job of the team's spokesman. You cannot control what your players do on social media on their own time. At best, you can show them examples of Tweeting and Facebooking gone bad so they know what can happen and hope they don't act like high school kids. You cannot ban anyone from using a Twitter account. i don't know that this is true at all. teams have rules about dress codes, facial hair, and all sorts of public comportment. The team has given the player a public profile by giving them a job in MLB; if the player uses that platform in a way that reflects badly on the organization, i'm not sure at all they couldn't require them to forego social media while they are a member of that team (or whatever subsection of that time period they may choose), at least in any way that specifically identifies the player. Perhaps there is a contractual right in the CBA to either do (or stop teams from prohibiting) this (either specifically or in relation to the team's control over marketing, and branding, and dilution of their trademark, etc), but i don't see why its necessarily one way or the other. There are legitimate arguments both ways.

deny it anyway. deny, deny, deny. As Richard Pryor said to his wife, when caught in bed with another woman, "who are you going to believe, baby... me or your lyin' eyes?"

don't get started on the arbitrary and hypocritical nature of obscenity. The Bible has multiple references to folks riding an ass, but if you ride somebody's ass today, Bible thumpers get all up in arms. And, as Carlin noted, you can prick your finger in public, but don't finger your prick!

yes, this was the plan i and others advocated in ST... except for the "wait for May" part.

Centerfield wrote: Jay Horowitz has been fired. You've been placed in charge. Because of your sterling (no pun intended) record, the Wilpons have given you broad discretion. How do you fix the Mets' image? My first orders of business: 1. City Agency Hats Come back on Sept. 11 I would tell MLB that the only way they are going to get my players not to wear them is to have crews physically come take them off their heads. Threaten us with a forfeit? Fine with us. We'll forfeit this game every year until MLB realizes this is not going to change. 2. Retire Piazza's Number As soon as possible. In fact, if I could go back in time I'd do it as a surprise on Mike Piazza Day. I would not wait until the HoF comes calling. I would send Jeff Wilpon out there with a pre-prepared speech from which he cannot stray AT ALL that goes along the lines of "Fuck the Hall of Fame Mike. You are a Hall of Famer to us. Even if asshead baseball writers can't see it." I would then instruct Jeff Wilpon to tweet a picture of himself urinating on the HoF logo. 3. Twitter As I mentioned in my other thread, put out a clear set of rules on how we expect our players to act on twitter. Tell them that if they violate the rules they will be asked to take down the post. Violations trigger a penalty. Multiple violations will result in twitter being banned for that player. 4. Don't schedule Native American Appreciation night when the Mets play the Braves or Indians. Duh. 5. Media Leaks I imagine it's hard to stop leaks in their entirety. But the reaction could be better. If there is a leak that Justin Turner was lazy, respond to it. "We have heard the rumors circulated about the effort put forth by Justin Turner. We at the organization refute any such rumors. Justin was a valued player with the Mets and the decision to non-tender him was strictly a business decision. We appreciate his time with the organization and wish him the best of luck in his career." And yes. Do this even if you don't mean it. 6. Communicate Better It's pretty clear that the organization is out of touch with a lot of their players. Beltran was upset. Harvey seems upset. You are going to have spoiled, self-important, sensitive athletes. Figure out a way to make them feel appreciated. all of that. plus i wouldn't let Ceetar into the stadium.

All this, CF, and a bag of chips. But i am kind of sick of people calling a 25-year old man a "kid". It's not true, and all it does is deflect his own culpability. In fact he's not a "kid"; he's a jock who has apparently lived in a bubble of entitlement since he became a BMOC for giving swirlies to his middle school nerd classmates and then went out and won the "big game". We all know the type. We all went to school with guys like him; for all i know, some of us HERE were guys like him. Not all the rules of civilization apply to this kind of guy; when they suddenly do, he takes umbrage and acts, as Edgy quite rightly characterized it, petulantly. But here's the thing... I DON'T CARE. He can be fucking supermodels in pairs, flipping off fans, tweeting pictures of his dick, and living the high life all he wants, as long as he takes the ball every 5th day, puts up big numbers, and beats the Braves like a fucking gong. I don't have to like him. I just want him to be great and to help my team win. Is it nicer to root for a guy like David "Captain America" Wright? Yes, it's nicer. But it ain't a necessary condition of my support. Will all the gnashing of teeth over this drive him away in free agency? who can say? But I'd guess that the Wilpons economic circumstances at that time will have a hell of a lot more to do with it than whining fans. On a side note, i completely agree with Edgy's view of internet "journalism" which in my view is (as Hunter Thompson said of objective journalism) a pompous contradiction in terms. When journalism serves a societal function, it's because people can trust the news they are getting. That trust is borne out of professional standards, codes of conduct that journalists took seriously for centuries because they were potentially liable for libel if they didn't. Multiple sources, fact checking, attempts at balance, and consequences for failing to meet those standards. None of this exists with any consistency in the wild wild internettian west. People post rumors as if they were facts; they get reposted by aggregating sites without comment, they get referenced as support for subsequent reports denying the original reports, and its all an echo chamber of bullshit deafening everyone and drowning out real journalism in a deluge of unchecked facts, unverified quotes, unidentified sources. And then the professionals, increasingly irrelevant as professionalism is trumped by amateurism, rush to paddle over the same waterfall out of desperation to keep an audience and a job. But the jobs are going away; print is being swept into the dustbin of history, along with the standards of professionalism they maintained for generations. And we are abandoned to an unintelligible cacophony of contradicting and baseless white noise, all sound and fury signifying nothing more than our disinterest in distinguishing what is true from what is entertaining. If we were still living in a democracy, i'd be concerned. But for an oligarchy, we're right on schedule, because all they need to provide us with is bread and circuses.

well it's true anyway.

The Nova injury was unfortunate; i was hoping he'd stay in their rotation and put up his usual replacement-level numbers, devouring them from within.

tick, tick, tick... as soon as he gets on a roll down there, get his bat in our lineup. We're giving up too many ABs per game.

the fact that Tejada has just gotten his BA up to .205 shouldn't go unmentioned, particularly since his OPS is still lower than all of those guys but Granderson. "palindrome of failure". hah! BOC

Aaron was an excellent athlete, 6'-180 lbs, and was able to maintain this full-time pace for another 5 years before his playing time started to diminish over his last 5 years (though he was still productive despite more limited PAs in his final years, even having an MVP-type season at age 39). Cabrera, 6'4" 240 lbs, has been surprisingly healthy in his career to date, despite his shape being somewhat ovoid, but i wouldn't bet on that continuing for as long as Aaron did, given the greater strain his weight puts on his frame (knees, in particular). Still, it's been a pretty remarkable career to date.

yes, by all means, lets cycle through retreads while we're up to our armpits in talented minor league arms. After all, its not as if using young starters out of the pen ever works, either in bolstering the pen or in developing the arms as eventual major league pitchers. Surely no lesson can be drawn in this regard from our current opponents in St.L, who've seemed to have done this expertly.

No, there's no room for him. the Mets would rather have 40-year old Bobby Abreu on their bench.

the Brewers shouldn't wait for the league to hand down suspensions; they should tell CarNoGo that his preening at home plate may have well cost his team a run, not to mention the continuing incitement of opposing teams at his showboating (which endangers his teammates, in this case resulting in a brawl), so they will fine and suspend him themselves. But of course they're 14-5, and CarNoGo is a big reason why, and so they will not do that.

MFS62 wrote: That Thornton was eligible for the Rule V draft, and nobody drafted him (when many teams are looking for lefty relievers with good K/BB ratios) doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy. But the old baseball adage is that lefties take longer to develop. So maybe he can be good. Time will tell. The PTBNL seems to be the key return. Let's find out who that is. Anyhow, Duda has to step up his game, or Sandy will get roasted until at least one of these guys develop. Later thornton is a rightie

yes, but that "oldest" part didn't happen years ago; it was a few months earlier in the same season. So yes, maybe he turned a corner in June and never looked back, and his 2nd half represents the pitcher he "really" is, not the mediocre arm with over a 4 ERA in his prior full seasons (including over 220+ innings at AAA level). Or maybe he's streaky and unreliable and we just don't know what he have. Like i said, too early to say. And it's certainly too early to say whether his shaky start this year is indicative of anything yet, but i can just as easily look at it as consistent with his career to date as be disappointed that he hasn't picked up exactly where he left off last season.

i agree; number retirement is the greatest honor, because they are limited. Statues are simply commissioned works of art; they can be put anywhere, to celebrate whatever. Support the arts! build more statues! I like Jonny's list. Perhaps we could also have: M. Donald Grant pinching a penny; Dick Young sticking a poison pen into Nancy Seaver; Nolan Ryan waiving to Jim Fregosi as they pass in a hall; Staub, pinch-hitting, and covered in rust; Throneberry missing 3rd; Ron Hunt taking one for the team; Bud Harrelson punching Pete Rose in the face; Bonilla, showing us the Bronx; Mike Vail, turning into a pumpkin; Lee Mazzilli, in tight pants, kissing Joe Torre's ass; They could be erected all over the stadium and the parking lot. The possibilities are endless. CitiField could become a new Storm King Sculpture Garden.

unfortunately, the first 1/3 of the season counts too, and his overall performance was what it was. And you can say that about most players... if you take the worst 1/3 of a season out of most player's overall production in a given year, their numbers will look much better. But is Gee's performance in the later part of the season more indicative of his future performance, or is he just streaky and inconsistent? I don't know that the verdict in on that question yet.