There's a lot of wackiness within this story about a guy getting stabbed at a Shutter Island screening, but one question really stood out: "Why would someone bring a meat thermometer to a movie theater?"
Mattel is now producing a Mad Men line of Barbie dolls, depicting Don Draper, Roger Sterling, Betty Draper, and of course Joan Holloway. According to a lengthy New York Timesarticle "the dolls are part of a premium-price collectors' series for adults that Mattel calls the Barbie Fashion Model Collection," which senior vice president for Barbie marketing Stephanie Cota says "do a great job of embodying the series." Yet oddly the design doesn't do a great job of embodying ... well, Christina Hendricks' body.
My best ridiculous analogy this week was how Milton Bradley is just like Britney Spears, but actually one of his recent quotes sounded exactly like me: "I pretty much stayed at home, ordered in every day, never went anywhere." Does that make me the Bradley of bloggers or him the Gleeman of outfielders?
I'm gradually getting more comfortable doing radio interviews via phone, so this week I was a guest on three different shows. Wednesday afternoon I talked Twins on KFAN with Paul Charchian, who was subbing for Dan Barreiro. Yesterday morning I did a segment with John Hanson and friend of AG.com Darren Wolfsonon KSTP. And last night I spent an hour chatting with Seth Stohson his great podcast, with "Big Poppa" by The Notorious B.I.G. and "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfieldas my intro songs. Naturally.It looks like KSTP didn't make the show available for download, but to listen to the KFAN segment just click here and zoom forward two-thirds of the way through until I come on. And definitely listen to Seth's podcast, because we basically had an hour-long conversation about the Twins that covered all kinds of topics. Oh, and if you haven't already, check out Seth's excellent Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook, which is sort of like my "Top 40 Twins Prospects of 2010" series on steroids.
Speaking of local sports radio, friend of AG.com Phil Mackeyjust announced that he's leaving KFAN for a job at KSTP, where he'll team with Patrick Reusse starting at noon each day. I like Phil a lot, he's a funny, smart guy who's good on the air, and he's big into both baseball and poker while also covering the Vikings beat for KFAN, so KSTP did well to add him to the lineup. Reusse's head may explode the first time Phil brings up Ultimate Zone Rating or xFIP on the air, though.
Kelly Brookhas stepped up her game after controversially being left off the candidates list following last week's Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com shakeup.
In one of the oddest casting choices in recent memory, Jonah Hill has a part in the Moneyball movie playing someone other thanJeremy Brown. And in semi-related news, if they ever make Jake Peavy's life into a movie Jeremy Renner probably shouldn't even have to audition.
Since losing 90 pounds a few years ago only to put the weight back on I've unsuccessfully re-started a weight-loss program countless times. My latest attempt began February 1 and things have gone well so far. I'm down 37 pounds, which is obviously a ton of weight to drop in just six weeks and has a lot of people asking how I've done it. Diet and exercise definitely help, but the biggest key is being fat enough that 37 pounds doesn't even make that much of a dent. Once you master that aspect, the rest is easy.
One nice food discovery this time around is the low-calorie pasta from FiberGourmet.com. I'm a big pasta and rice eater, but in the past have always cut them out of my diet when trying to lose weight. I'm still not eating any rice and have cut way back on the pasta, but stumbled across the products while searching for low-calorie options last month and have decided that it tastes about 90 percent as good as regular pasta despite having 40 percent fewer calories thanks to a huge increase in fiber.I realize the above paragraph may sound like an advertisement, but I can assure you that I'm not getting paid to say that. In fact, the only real downside to the low-calorie pasta is the cost, which ends up being about three times as much as regular pasta once shipping fees are included. Anyway, if you're trying to limit calorie intake and can't live without pasta, I recommend giving it a try. I bought a 12-pack sampler, which is three types of pasta plus macaroni and cheese. Buy some and maybe they'll send me more!
Speaking of diets, native Minnesotan, former Gopher, and current Mariners backup Jack Hannahan had an amusing quote when asked about losing 18 pounds during the offseason: "I know why people don't like losing weight. You have to eat food you don't like."
I'd proudly wear about 99 of these shirts, if only they made them in XXXXXXXL.
Bob Ingrassia of Minnesota Public Radio created a ranking of the Top 50 Minnesota Baseball Blogs and I'm proud to say AG.com tops the list. I'm not exactly sure of the criteria used for the ranking system other than it seems to be based on stuff like site traffic, RSS subscriptions, and inbound links, but who am I to quibble with results like that? Anyway, along with further inflating my ego the list is also a handy guide to the Twins blogosphere. If you like AG.com, odds are you'll like many of the other blogs listed.
What do Jason Kendall, an ex-wife named Chantel, and Rod Stewart's son have in common?
Check out Rotoworld's annual Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, because I'm the editor, and along with Matthew Pouliot, Drew Silva, D.J. Short, Craig Calcaterra, Thor Nystrom, and other writers spent an insane amount of time working on the product for the past few months. So if you're a fantasy baseball player please consider buying it. Just last month we received the "Best Online Draft Kit" award from the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, so it'll definitely be worth the money and also keeps me employed.
I'm not sure if I actually like HBO's new seriesHow To Make It In America, but the show's soundtrack has beengreateveryweek.
Along with his usual excellent writing work for Basketball Prospectus, friend of AG.com Kevin Peltonhas a new job as a front office consultant for the Indiana Pacers. Nathan Jawai for Danny Granger?
I'm addicted to WhatIfSports.com's great Hardball Dynasty game and we're starting a new season in "Gleeman World 2" soon, with a couple franchise openings. Hardball Dynasty is not a fantasy baseball game, but rather a simulation of running a fictional MLB organization from rookie-ball to the majors. It's incredibly detailed and time-consuming with a steep learning curve, so first and foremost we're looking for owners with Hardball Dynasty experience, although anyone is free to express interest in a spot.
Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is the theme song to the aforementioned How To Make It In America, "I Need A Dollar" by Aloe Blacc:
