There's got to be some post limit or date of expiration for old posts on this blog, because when I did a search for mentions of Paul Newman, I only came up with this one. I just can't believe that I haven't talked about more than one movie with Paul Newman in it. Running through his IMDB bio, I know I've seen Road to Perdition, Hudsucker Proxy, Slapshot, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Those last six are probably as impressive a list as anybody else can throw out there, and that's just the ones I've seen.
One is the greatest scam/heist movie ever. One is one of the funniest sports movies (I would say THE funniest, but I'd probably get run over by a Caddyshack fan tomorrow). One is one of the greatest westerns. One is one of the greatest prison movies. One is the greatest pool movie ever, and is also a great personal drama/tragedy film. And the last is one of my favorites because it has so much raw emotion packed into every scene.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
I Know, You Know I Know, But I Know You Know I Know
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Last night LSU and Auburn renewed their SEC West rivalry with an exciting and much-too-tense-for-me football game. All LSU-Auburn games for the last decade or so have been nail-biters than leave the caring viewer exhausted and trembling when it was all over. The game even has its own Wikipedia entry (arbiter of all that is true and right). The home team had won eight in a row, and the four most recent games had been decided by a total of 14 points. LSU fans hate this game, mostly because there have been times when LSU was ranked higher and favored to win, only to come up on the short end.
LSU won 26-21 in another great game with a late drive that featured aggressive playcalling and good execution. There's a couple of scoring plays for each team I want to talk about that concern Auburn's defense being so familiar with LSU's offense. (You can see an LSU-based recap of the game here)
The first was an awful play by Jarrett Lee late in the first half. He double- and triple-clutches on a flare pass out left to Keiland Williams, an Auburn DE makes a nice play to intercept it, and he brings it back for a touchdown. Last year, Keiland Williams burned Auburn bad on this same play, which can be seen here. So when Auburn sees Lee in the shotgun with Williams to his left, they're ready. Even before the hesitation by Lee, about five Auburn guys are headed over to cover Williams. The pass never should have been thrown, but it was still a nice play by the defender to gather in the pass and head in for the score. It was a case of Auburn knowing what LSU knew.
Later on in the game, LSU knows that Auburn knows what they know. LSU seems to run a particular play with Keiland Williams about once a game. The formation includes a fullback in front of Williams. Hike, and the QB fakes a dive handoff to the fullback, then pitches it out the other way to Williams. The first time I remember seeing this play was from San Diego with LaDanian Tomlinson a few years ago. Some teams use it regularly. LSU seems to use it more often than most, and Keiland Williams gets it more than anyone else. Auburn knows this well.
So when LSU is down on Auburn's 22 yard line and Williams is lined up behind a fullback, Auburn is ready again. Fake dive handoff, pitch outside to Williams. But instead of running with it, Williams gathers it in and throws a halfback pass to a moderately-open Demetrius Byrd, who had gotten behind two defenders. LSU was able to use Auburn's knowledge of the play against them, showing them something they'd seen, then showing them something else. Nicely done.
Women's Soccer
I was a season ticket holder for all the seasons that the Washington Freedom were in the WUSA before the league folded days before the 2003 Women's World Cup. After the first year the team drafted Abby Wambach out of Florida. Lost in the finals the second year, won the title the third year. The league will be replaced by Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2009. Player allocation of National Team members was a few days ago, and Wambach is back with the Freedom, which makes me happy.
The Freedom are the first and only team I've ever had season tickets to, so I feel like the connection I have to them is different than any of the other teams I root for. Definitely not stronger, but different in a way I kind of like. I think I'm going to get season tickets again, even if I can't go to any games. I'll try to find a way to make one or two, though how I'm going to get to the Germantown Soccer-plex is beyond me. RKF it ain't. I'll probably send someone the tickets to had out as they wish for the games I don't get to.
Interesting note: The NBA logo features a silhouette of Jerry West. The new WPS logo will feature a silhouette of Mia Hamm. That's a nice touch.
By the way, the Chicago team is called the Red Stars. Doesn't that sound like it should be an old Soviet team?
At another level of women's soccer, I've had the chance to attend a few Lady Demon soccer games recently. They're held at the Demon Soccer Complex, which may have been in its infancy when I was a student. It's turned out to be really nice, and is much nicer than any place I ever played. I'm very pleasantly surprised at the crowds that turn out for the games. I told my dad that if you added up all the people who ever watched my league teams play, they wouldn't equal the crowd there. Where did all these people come from? I used to feel like I knew pretty much everybody in town who was interested in soccer. Verily, things have changed.
Come on, ship...Come on, ship...Come on, ship...Come on in.
The biggest news story in this part of the state the last few months has centered around a geologic formation known as the Haynesville Shale. It's really far underground and contains natural gas. Lots of it. Maybe enough to be the fourth-largest deposit in the world. It was long considered too hard to access, but a new drilling technique has opened things up. So if you own a few acres in the right place, you could be looking at a nice chunk of change. If you own more than a few, you could probably retire. Consider (with the warning that I may have no idea what I'm talking about):
Say you own a section of land, 640 acres. You get paid a fee per acre just for the company to drill. I've heard of fees ranging from eight thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars (not too many people own a whole section, I think).
The price of natural gas is based on per thousand cubic feet produced in a section. Recently the price has been about $7 per thousand cubic feet. Some of these wells can produce more than ten million cubic feet per day.
You get a percentage royalty of the overall production, around 16-25% (one-sixth to one-fourth royalty).
Let's do some math with relatively conservative numbers. The exception is owning a whole section. I don't know an example of anyone who does, though I'm sure they're out there.
640 acres with a $8,000 per acre leasing fee: $5,120,000
7 million cubic feet per day at $7 per thousand cubic feet: $49,000 per day
$49,000 per day times 30 days: $1,470,000 per month
$1,470,000 times 12 months: $17,640,000 per year
$17,640,000 with a 1/6 royalty: $2,940,000 per year
The leasing fee is yours, independent of any royalty. You still have to pay taxes on all this, somewhere in the neighborhood of 42%. Whatever the details, good luck to all the landowners who are in line to take home a nice piece of cash. Some of these people have only ever owned land and not had any money to go along with it. Those are the ones I feel pretty good for.
Last night LSU and Auburn renewed their SEC West rivalry with an exciting and much-too-tense-for-me football game. All LSU-Auburn games for the last decade or so have been nail-biters than leave the caring viewer exhausted and trembling when it was all over. The game even has its own Wikipedia entry (arbiter of all that is true and right). The home team had won eight in a row, and the four most recent games had been decided by a total of 14 points. LSU fans hate this game, mostly because there have been times when LSU was ranked higher and favored to win, only to come up on the short end.
LSU won 26-21 in another great game with a late drive that featured aggressive playcalling and good execution. There's a couple of scoring plays for each team I want to talk about that concern Auburn's defense being so familiar with LSU's offense. (You can see an LSU-based recap of the game here)
The first was an awful play by Jarrett Lee late in the first half. He double- and triple-clutches on a flare pass out left to Keiland Williams, an Auburn DE makes a nice play to intercept it, and he brings it back for a touchdown. Last year, Keiland Williams burned Auburn bad on this same play, which can be seen here. So when Auburn sees Lee in the shotgun with Williams to his left, they're ready. Even before the hesitation by Lee, about five Auburn guys are headed over to cover Williams. The pass never should have been thrown, but it was still a nice play by the defender to gather in the pass and head in for the score. It was a case of Auburn knowing what LSU knew.
Later on in the game, LSU knows that Auburn knows what they know. LSU seems to run a particular play with Keiland Williams about once a game. The formation includes a fullback in front of Williams. Hike, and the QB fakes a dive handoff to the fullback, then pitches it out the other way to Williams. The first time I remember seeing this play was from San Diego with LaDanian Tomlinson a few years ago. Some teams use it regularly. LSU seems to use it more often than most, and Keiland Williams gets it more than anyone else. Auburn knows this well.
So when LSU is down on Auburn's 22 yard line and Williams is lined up behind a fullback, Auburn is ready again. Fake dive handoff, pitch outside to Williams. But instead of running with it, Williams gathers it in and throws a halfback pass to a moderately-open Demetrius Byrd, who had gotten behind two defenders. LSU was able to use Auburn's knowledge of the play against them, showing them something they'd seen, then showing them something else. Nicely done.
Women's Soccer
I was a season ticket holder for all the seasons that the Washington Freedom were in the WUSA before the league folded days before the 2003 Women's World Cup. After the first year the team drafted Abby Wambach out of Florida. Lost in the finals the second year, won the title the third year. The league will be replaced by Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2009. Player allocation of National Team members was a few days ago, and Wambach is back with the Freedom, which makes me happy.
The Freedom are the first and only team I've ever had season tickets to, so I feel like the connection I have to them is different than any of the other teams I root for. Definitely not stronger, but different in a way I kind of like. I think I'm going to get season tickets again, even if I can't go to any games. I'll try to find a way to make one or two, though how I'm going to get to the Germantown Soccer-plex is beyond me. RKF it ain't. I'll probably send someone the tickets to had out as they wish for the games I don't get to.
Interesting note: The NBA logo features a silhouette of Jerry West. The new WPS logo will feature a silhouette of Mia Hamm. That's a nice touch.
By the way, the Chicago team is called the Red Stars. Doesn't that sound like it should be an old Soviet team?
At another level of women's soccer, I've had the chance to attend a few Lady Demon soccer games recently. They're held at the Demon Soccer Complex, which may have been in its infancy when I was a student. It's turned out to be really nice, and is much nicer than any place I ever played. I'm very pleasantly surprised at the crowds that turn out for the games. I told my dad that if you added up all the people who ever watched my league teams play, they wouldn't equal the crowd there. Where did all these people come from? I used to feel like I knew pretty much everybody in town who was interested in soccer. Verily, things have changed.
Come on, ship...Come on, ship...Come on, ship...Come on in.
The biggest news story in this part of the state the last few months has centered around a geologic formation known as the Haynesville Shale. It's really far underground and contains natural gas. Lots of it. Maybe enough to be the fourth-largest deposit in the world. It was long considered too hard to access, but a new drilling technique has opened things up. So if you own a few acres in the right place, you could be looking at a nice chunk of change. If you own more than a few, you could probably retire. Consider (with the warning that I may have no idea what I'm talking about):
Say you own a section of land, 640 acres. You get paid a fee per acre just for the company to drill. I've heard of fees ranging from eight thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars (not too many people own a whole section, I think).
The price of natural gas is based on per thousand cubic feet produced in a section. Recently the price has been about $7 per thousand cubic feet. Some of these wells can produce more than ten million cubic feet per day.
You get a percentage royalty of the overall production, around 16-25% (one-sixth to one-fourth royalty).
Let's do some math with relatively conservative numbers. The exception is owning a whole section. I don't know an example of anyone who does, though I'm sure they're out there.
640 acres with a $8,000 per acre leasing fee: $5,120,000
7 million cubic feet per day at $7 per thousand cubic feet: $49,000 per day
$49,000 per day times 30 days: $1,470,000 per month
$1,470,000 times 12 months: $17,640,000 per year
$17,640,000 with a 1/6 royalty: $2,940,000 per year
The leasing fee is yours, independent of any royalty. You still have to pay taxes on all this, somewhere in the neighborhood of 42%. Whatever the details, good luck to all the landowners who are in line to take home a nice piece of cash. Some of these people have only ever owned land and not had any money to go along with it. Those are the ones I feel pretty good for.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Two week notice
It's been an interesting couple of weeks lately. I started my graduate assistantship, where I am scheduled to work all day Monday/Wednesday and half a day Friday. The first week the mayor gave us Friday off. Then Monday was Labor Day. Classes and the office were closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to Gustav. Thursday and Friday I was out of town for a wedding in Florida. So I was basically on a week, off a week. We got sent home early today because of Ike. I walked in at 1 and they told me to go home.
Going to the beach we stayed north for a while and went through Natchez, MS, then on down to Hattiesburg before hitting the coast. On the way back we came through Slidell (north of Lake Pontchartrain, for those of you not familiar with Louisiana geography), over to Baton Rouge, and then on up. For fifty miles outside of Baton Rouge, we saw downed power lines, telephone poles hanging over the highway, collapsed or damaged buildings, and flooding on either side of the road. And this was with Gustav not being as bad as feared. If Ike had taken the same path, he would have been serious trouble for a part of the state that had already been hit hard.
Scotty Williams Health Update: The Monday after we got back from the beach, a voodoo queen exacted a measure of revenge on behalf of some old enemy of mine. I don't know which one. Sitting down to dinner, my back started to itch from should blade to shoulder blade. Not the kind of itch that you can scratch and it goes away. But a deep, intense, mind-numbing itch that consumes 100% of your attention and mocks any attempt at relief. It was likely an allergic reaction to something at the beach, but I don't know what. Other people complained of some sort of reaction. I don't think they had it as bad as I did, though.
As I was lying in bed facedown, trying to relax and get to sleep, the Marie Laveau wannabe went to work, and my right shoulder would jerk back suddenly. Then my left. On and on till 4 in the morning. If we were living in a different age, they'd have called an exorcist. Living as we do now, we went to Walgreens. But as John Astin used to say on Night Court, "I'm feeling much better now."
One of the ladies I work with used to live in Alexandria, VA. So did yours truly. She asked me if I ever hung out in Adams Morgan. "Nah, I mostly hung out at a place on M Street called Sign of the Whale." "Oh yeah, I've been there a lot!" she said. So I moved back to Louisiana to find someone who used to live in the same city and hung out at the same place. It's a crazy world.
I went to the Texas A&M Commerce/NSU game last weekend and had a great time. It had been a while since I'd sat in Turpin Stadium and yelled at the people on the field. Mostly griping about NSU coach Scott Stoker's decision to punt on 4 and 1 inside the opponent's territory in the first quarter. Fortune favors the bold, coach.
In the second half I felt like getting nachos, so I went to the concession stand. The item list said "Nachos: $3.00". THREE DOLLARS!! I almost started to cry. I can't get spat on at RFK or the Verizon Center for three dollars. I thought about getting four orders of nachos just because I could.
There's a story on ESPN about three Saints starters who will miss the game this week against the Washington Redskins. Roman Harper has a pulled right hamstring, and Randall Gay has a pulled left hamstring. Can't they just strap the two injured legs together and compete as a single player, sort of like a three-legged race in the secondary?
Going to the beach we stayed north for a while and went through Natchez, MS, then on down to Hattiesburg before hitting the coast. On the way back we came through Slidell (north of Lake Pontchartrain, for those of you not familiar with Louisiana geography), over to Baton Rouge, and then on up. For fifty miles outside of Baton Rouge, we saw downed power lines, telephone poles hanging over the highway, collapsed or damaged buildings, and flooding on either side of the road. And this was with Gustav not being as bad as feared. If Ike had taken the same path, he would have been serious trouble for a part of the state that had already been hit hard.
Scotty Williams Health Update: The Monday after we got back from the beach, a voodoo queen exacted a measure of revenge on behalf of some old enemy of mine. I don't know which one. Sitting down to dinner, my back started to itch from should blade to shoulder blade. Not the kind of itch that you can scratch and it goes away. But a deep, intense, mind-numbing itch that consumes 100% of your attention and mocks any attempt at relief. It was likely an allergic reaction to something at the beach, but I don't know what. Other people complained of some sort of reaction. I don't think they had it as bad as I did, though.
As I was lying in bed facedown, trying to relax and get to sleep, the Marie Laveau wannabe went to work, and my right shoulder would jerk back suddenly. Then my left. On and on till 4 in the morning. If we were living in a different age, they'd have called an exorcist. Living as we do now, we went to Walgreens. But as John Astin used to say on Night Court, "I'm feeling much better now."
One of the ladies I work with used to live in Alexandria, VA. So did yours truly. She asked me if I ever hung out in Adams Morgan. "Nah, I mostly hung out at a place on M Street called Sign of the Whale." "Oh yeah, I've been there a lot!" she said. So I moved back to Louisiana to find someone who used to live in the same city and hung out at the same place. It's a crazy world.
I went to the Texas A&M Commerce/NSU game last weekend and had a great time. It had been a while since I'd sat in Turpin Stadium and yelled at the people on the field. Mostly griping about NSU coach Scott Stoker's decision to punt on 4 and 1 inside the opponent's territory in the first quarter. Fortune favors the bold, coach.
In the second half I felt like getting nachos, so I went to the concession stand. The item list said "Nachos: $3.00". THREE DOLLARS!! I almost started to cry. I can't get spat on at RFK or the Verizon Center for three dollars. I thought about getting four orders of nachos just because I could.
There's a story on ESPN about three Saints starters who will miss the game this week against the Washington Redskins. Roman Harper has a pulled right hamstring, and Randall Gay has a pulled left hamstring. Can't they just strap the two injured legs together and compete as a single player, sort of like a three-legged race in the secondary?
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