mstar1

I have no real traditions--every year its a little different--some years its just the Twilight Zone or Stooges marathon :) or a dinner with friends--This year I got invited to a potluck party at a house art gallery down the street. She's a cook and a painter and has a place she just opened called "Art In The Kitchen". Low Key, a lot of interesting people that I had never met before --about 40 or so I'd guess--and way too much great food everywhere within reaching distance. I poked and prodded my way through a lot of food that I probably shouldnt have mixed and kibbitzed with the local artsy crew The jambalaya was a big hit with me...as was the homemade pumpkin fudge made by a cookbook author who I hit it off with pretty well...I enjoyed my all too brief midnight moment with her. We'll see where it goes from here... Next day was recovery day as usual.. I love the collard greens idea--If thats the key to wealth Im going to buy a truckload and eat them all year

Im stuck in an ice storm today---Ice as far as the eye can see Ice Fields--Leo Kottke

The original "passing of the Mantle" Joe Dimaggio retired in 1951 handing over the cult leadership type position of Centerfield for the Yankees to a young Oklahoman A few years later Joe married Marilyn Monroe , Mickey became an alcoholic There's a parallel in there somewhere

The ex GF in the next town gets it but not me <_< --so right now its...um...complicated...Im watching alittle when I can... I did get to catch the last few innings of Larsens perfect game---What a treat that was--I found myself rooting for Furillo and Campanella -- hoping that theyd get a hit and pull the game out I'd love to see Ken Burns series again--but I dont know if that is in the cards right now...keep me posted if there are any other cant miss shows---its gonna take some finagling ........... In other news, I thought THIS was a cool story about Sox owner John Henry John Henry Funds Through November FUND ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT 2008 PERFORMANCE JHW GlobalAnalytics $135 Million +82.78 percent JHW Diversified Plus $50 million +38.22 percent Intl. Foreign Exchange $29 million +76.10 percent Financial & Metals $26 million +39.31 percent JHW Financial Plus $9 million +34.57 percent JHW World Commodity $8 million +68.57 percent Its really good to see some good financial news for once--

Im not even sure if this is possible: Graffitti Wall Vandalized OK, I'll make a note: Study: Dont Drive During a Heart Attack

I was spending a good part of yesterday looking for it----It doesnt look like its in my podunk town just yet--at least not as a free add on...

What are you doing New Years Eve? Happy New Year Everybody

You must have been born with a darn conscience, What a rip! I think I might have one too (most of the time) and it keeps my $$ factor lower than it could be-- It has its benefits but I may go in for a consciencectomy and have it removed <_< or at least have a guiltoectomy--that never does me any good.. but seriously--- I hope you are doing OK I like the Penny deal too--It seems to be what the Sox do---low risk (5mil) -high possible return--plus he is in a contract year --It'll be interesting what he does compared to AJ or CC especially at the bargain basement price.. Good deal....

Is that divided evenly amongst the teams--anyone know? If so its very nice of the Yanks to want to help pay for the new grandstand seats at Fenway.. :) --The Luxury Taxeira will be pretty high for awhile-- I wonder what they'll buy us next year for Christmas

Id love to have someone who is .300/35/120 every year, but 'in the room' is asjust as big of a factor imo , if not more... Bostonians spent alot of years having one or two big names and teams that went nowhere-it took a long time to learn that lesson...It used to be a daily occurrence in these parts hearing which players were discontent and who was ....ed off at who---its been fun NOT hearing that except once in a very great while (and of course once ayear with Manny for afew weeks) ----IF that was going to be a factor in the Tex deal -then its another one of those 'blessing in disguise moments--dont want it-dont need it-I'll take Mike Lowell at third and Lars Anderson next year at first -and wish Good luck to Tex in the Bronx

People are fans of different teams --and --thats baseball--I think its healthy-it gives us something to talk and think about besides wars, rumors of wars and a coming depression... for along time I was stuck with the Red Sox, I loved them but had constant quarrels with front office mistakes and mismanagement and oodles of other things but I stuck in there it wasnt really an option to change allegiances... Im not going to apologize for it either--. I probably would be dancing if Tex signed but in another sense Im glad that they held the line. To me its starting to look like one of those 'blessing in disguise' moments. With the Yankees possibly close to their off season spending limit the Red Sox are left in the best position to snap up a few free agent bargains that more obviously fill their needs and to trade some of their emerging minor league talent for other in their prime major leaguers to improve the team where it's most needed. The bottom line at this point is that the Yankees and Sox have surprisingly comparable teams in terms of overall talent though the Bronxites are spending about $80 million more per season. A few tweaks to bolster Sox catching, solidify their reserves depth and possibly (optional at this point) upgrading their pitching staff are all that is necessary to make this a successful off season for the Sox. Extending as many of their core player in the prime of their careers is also worthwhile. I have no doubt that Sox management will again make smart moves to improve the team and that they will compete with the Yankees and Rays in their tough Division. Lost in the hoopla of the Texeira negotiations and signing was Baseball America naming Theo Epstein as ML executive of the year. Over the last few years there has been some swings and misses but overall its well deserved imo. Its almost as interesting watching how these two teams play the off season as they play the season. Two distinctive different styles- The biggest signing the Sox have had under Theo is JD Drew at 75m/5 years which is miniscule compared to some of Cashmans signings. It all seems to work--In Theo We Trust

Over the last few years Ive tempered my dislike of the Yankees around here. But Thats pretty much the defining point on the signing--whether you are a Sox or Yankees fan--two fan bases that get very passionate --especially about each other... it doesnt have to be logical-- The Yankees make no bones that they have to win a WS to be successful--other teams may want to get into the playoffs and have achance to win it all ( Id put the Sox in that category), I dont know what most other teams want--(make a profit?, field a team and hope something happens?) The Yanks won with young ballplayers in the 90's--built a good team with good drafts and a few good trades and signings. I would have loved to see Tex in a sox uniform--if not I'll be glad to see the Yanks lose a mountain of their draft picks. I think weve brought this up before--every once in awhile a team may need a certain player to fill out a lineup and it may cost them but the Yankees seem to have forgotten what made them successful in the first place and have continued to gamble their future for the immediate fix---So far it hasnt worked

No reason to get upset Geisha. The Yankees have the lowest return on investment in MLB this century :) 1.8 Billion and nothing to show for it...Its a system that doesnt work and they persist in banging their heads against the wall playing that way---

OK Duh--after 5 hours of driving my sarcasm meter wasnt registering I'll send it to the shop

I dunno about that...I'd like to hear your reasoning and how you think that it could work----I agree that players salaries are way too high--but the union is in the business of making money for the players--not only now but setting precedents for the future. Right now baseball is a mutibillion dollar a year business, Im fairly sure that through some kind of logic they feel that the players are entitled to their share of the pie..Theyve made huge strides in ageneration--after taking them I cant see what would make them want to 'give it back' I could see salaries maybe coming down if the economic downturn effected attendance and the profitability of baseball or if their was some sort of massive fan strike (which I dont see happening) but other than that, unless Im missing something, I think the union will take everything it can get, and would probably fight caps---BUT im no expert--Id love to hear what you think

By my count the Yanks have spent $424 million since I last saw you... thats just the NEW spending and---well--the things we do for love I guess--good thing I have a thin A$$ these days with the sellout streak goin--sometimes its all you can get... ONE reasonably comfy seat in the loge boxes with a little space, a little leg room and no poles or obstructions is $90.00 a game face value if you can get it..closer to 150-200+ from a scalper or ticket agency.. nah-I'll reserve that for Scott Boras and Wall Streeters- It does make it tough to be competitive though. The salary gap which got close for awhile is widening again and with the new Yanks Stadium the Sox are going to have to figure more efficient ways to be competitive without the huge unending sums to spend on big name Free Agents. Younger players, building from within, good drafts that type of thing. Its been the overall plan with this ownership since theyve been here--they really havent done one of those mega contract since theyve been here-- The Rays proved this year that method works. So it will be competing philosophies behind the competing on the field. Gotta love it.. .......... ...$7.00 a game? I just may move to AZ to get my MLB fix with you and Simon! --just dont expect me to be a DBacks fan :) Merry Christmas everyone!

I just saw this at BBC News: I dont really care all that much what the Catholics believe but The headline and the accompanying photograph struck me as very funny

You're probably right--Most of this money is on replacements--CC replacing Mussina, Tex replacing Giambi, Burnett replacing Ponson and ? and ?. Its not like they added these big numbers on top of everything else..it balances out. It all looks good, but we'll see how much theyve really improved come April ....I honestly thought until the last minute that he'd be signing with the Nats which would have been fine with me. It would have been like the witness protection program--no one would have ever barely heard of him again. The Yanks were sort of a surprise. Its Ok --the Sox have a highly touted minor league 1B , Lars Anderson, a year or two away. I can wait. Save the money save the draft picks, sign a catcher, maybe pickup a second tier free agent or two. If they need a big bat Matt Holliday is a free agent after next season. Manny's the next big fish--so far there doesnt seem a lot of talk. I wonder if teams are getting cold feet after his little display with the Red Sox last July... LA's a really good fit for him, I hope they up their offer, if he does end up with the Yanks or Mets, the first time he hit a June swoon and got raked over the coals in the Daily News he'd be pouting for weeks

Merry Christmas!

Jumping The Shark Fonzie jumps the shark

^&%$#*---Yanks sign Tex --ESPN reporting They'll be the team to beat --at least on paper after 400 million on 3 free agents I wonder if they'll still be asking NYC for $$ to finish the new stadium $30M for ARod $25M for Tex $23M for CC $22M for Jeter $18M for Burnett $118m for 5 guys :blink: On the plus side Tex might be the kind of guy that I may really enjoy disliking for the next 8 years

NYTimes CannabisCulture.com Dock in the sky with diamonds

Uno mas for Ian from Ian--"Another christmas song"

Im doing fine. I usually grumble through winter but these last two storms for me have been---well gorgeous--the better part of the ice storm passed by just catching the ridge of the hills and mountains that surround me--which gives sort of an interesting and surreal light effect. The snow the other day was about a foot, but light as a feather--easy to clean up--but still gave that picturesque effect. Driving was only bad for a few hours and although I slippedly slid all oiver the place there were no incidents for me. We're expecting another 6 inches today--so I'll see how I fare on that. It was OK for me but there are 3 or 4 hilltowns near me that havent fared so well. Power is STILL out in them 8 days after the ice storm.Theyve also had to go through the first big snow with no power which has got to be tough. The towns are all served by two different power companies, so the companies are putting off on each other repairing the lines, so neither of them have done anything yet. The towns have set up emergency shelters,and people are buying generators or doubling up with friends and relatives. Its rough but the hillfolks are stout and everyones pitching in...