Discovery: das Bier

We bought some 24 ounce Bud Lights for our stay in Palm Desert last weekend. 24ozs is a lot of fluid, and sometimes takes me a while to get through. With Bier, especially das Light-Bier, you don’t want to be drinking it warm, hence das Bier auf Eis. The last sip was just as cold and delicious as the first.

Tough life

Life is hard in California.

Verboten

Nick tells me that www.dasskiz.com is now on the banned list at his ultrasecret government compound. I couldn’t be prouder.

Now just a moment to discuss East Coast Bias. I don’t watch much TV in California, but when I do, it’s usually sports. It’s so strange watching big time events before or during dinner. For instance, the Stanley Cup Finals start at 5PM out here. The good news is that it’s probably easy to go out somewhere and watch a game. The bad news is that when it’s over, it’s 8PM and you’re drunk.

For the SCF, with no West Coast rooting interest, that seems reasonable. But the NBA finals came on last night at 6PM. Think about that from the fan perspective of attending the game. KDawg went to SCF game 3, and probably dodged a lot of traffic due to the 8PM start. Not so if you went to. LA for the during rush hour Finals start.

Besides the potential traffic problems, and me being the only person who cares about the Stanley Cup and having to say things like, ‘why don’t we wait til 845 for dinner?’ I like it. Sports are done around 9 or 10 at the latest. Baseball is no different, except that sometimes your team plays at 4 instead of sometimes playing at 10. Monday Night Football kicks off at 530. The World Series would be late ending at 930. Gives you a chance to wind down from a big win and actually get some sleep.

Gonna post some new shirts as soon as I see some samples. Have some cool designs ready to go.

Back for June

With the semester over, I thought I’d start posting more regularly. Last semester was a bear, but I won’t be TA’ing any more, nor will I be taking any more classes. That makes me ABD in the PhD world. Just time to work on that D.

I had a thought about the Phils, who have been struggling mightily of late. It’s an ugly one, but still a thought. During a series with the Rockies in the middle of May (10th-12th), one of the bullpen coaches was caught with binoculars. That’s a major no-no in baseball, because binoculars could be used to steal signs. The Phillies initially tried to defuse the whole thing by saying it wasn’t a big deal, then Amaro said that it is inappropriate, and Charlie Manuel said that the Mets do it too. The whole thing faded away much more quickly than I thought it would, given that the Phils were in the World Series the last two years.

Now the Phils can’t hit the ocean from a boat. If you look at the schedule, they had some offensive outbursts against the Brewers and the Pirates shortly after that. A quick standings check will tell you that those teams are really bad, and the Brewers especially have some terrible pitching. Beyond that though, there hasn’t been much offense at all. There are a ton of stats out there about how bad it’s been for the Phils, but the short version is that it’s been bad.

Obviously it’s possible that the Phillies are in some kind of historic slump, and that they’re missing their ringleader, Jimmy Rollins, or any one of a number of other excuses they could come up with. But I think this sign stealing thing shouldn’t be overlooked. A couple of well-timed stolen signs can make a really big difference. And when you were caught in a pretty obvious way with binoculars, maybe you decide to lay low for a while. I don’t know, just a thought.

Adam Banks

Having Roy Halladay on the Phils was like when the Mighty Ducks acquired Adam Banks in a redistricting. Except that the Phillies were good before Halladay came, and Halladay wanted to come to the Phillies. So actually it’s more like when Banks originally went to the Hawks in the untold story, ‘The Hawks: 30 years of domination’.

Except that our coach isn’t an asshole. So it’s kind of like a combo of one movie that exists and one that doesn’t, and only kind of. Either way, he’s good.

das Phanatic

Found some more Phanatics while doing some errands today. I’m not sure how many are around, and I don’t want to look them all up yet. It really reminds me of Aachen’s horse collection. I kind of hope the Phanatics become a permanent part of the city, but I don’t think that’s the plan.

Die Katze is hugging the Negro League Phanatic, who has all the logos of all the Negro League teams on his jersey. The other Phanatic is Phanaticstein, who is not a Jewish Phanatic, but actually Dr. Frankenstein’s Phanatic Monster. Really cool.

die Socken

I went with high socks and shorts today. Nadim, aka the Boston fan who is itching to buy out of our bet, explained the following to me:

There’s an occasion for everything, but not that.

Thoughts?

die Phillies

Currently at the phils game. 7-6 in the 2nd. Der Bruder picked a good one.

Update: found this sweet phanatic statue in Rittenhouse. They’re all over town.

The bet

In non-money related gambling news, some early season baseball trash talking escalated into a pretty solid prop bet. My associate is a Red Sox fan, and makes typical AL centered comments. After some discussion, the following was decided:

1) whichever team advances further in the playoffs, the other guy has to shave the opposing team’s letter into his head. So i’d have to shave a B and he’d have to shave a P in his.
2) in the event that the Sox and Phils play in the World Series, the loser has to wear a Snuggie everywhere for one week. That means everywhere and in all circumstances (except showering).

We also have a buyout in case of a fluke injury or disaster. You have to draw a P or B on your face for 1 day, and it has to be before July 1st. After that, the bet’s the bet.

I kind of wish the Snuggie bet was for the team that advanced further, but oh well. I’ve already picked out the Snuggie for him, and he’s already discussed the purchase of the accompanying book light. Should be a good summer of shit talking.

Experiment 65

What the hell is Experiment 65? All I know is that they can’t post a description on the door, or nearby, and that you can’t even go in the building if you’re a part of it without notifying someone by phone.

This is what happens to your imagination when you watch Sesame Street for your entire childhood.