Lookout Landing: FanPosts

OFFTOP 10.13.08 Garfield Edition

NOLAmarinergirl — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:02:11 -0000

I'm not usually one for a case of the Mondays, but it's only 8.49am and I'm already set to climb back into bed and hide from the world. I couldn't wake up with my first alarm and then the second did not sing at the appropriate time. My shuffle was dead, forcing me to listen to thumping baselines as I scooted along. Water from residents oversoaking their balcony plants drenched me as I rode through the French Quarter. Upon opening my scooter seat, I found that red beans and rice had leaked all over my bag (including my new 80-count box of tea). As I hustled to make the six block walk, a cop stopped me to lecture me about riding on the sidewalk, causing me to clutch my dripping bag to my almost-new fleece, which will cause me to smell like chipotle for the rest of the day. And then, upon checking my email, yay--two new job rejections!

Please, give me some good news, or at least tell me of your worst Monday horror stories.

International Signings

Scrupio — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:32:55 -0000

There hasn't been a whole lot of talk about the Mariners lately other than the whole GM search. So something I'm interested in is how we did in the international signing period. Did Bob Engle pull any rabbits out of his hat this year? As far as the best player available the Athletics gave their left testicle for Michel Inoa giving him $4.25 mil. I see we got a pretty highly rated outfielder named Julio Morban and a highly rated pitcher from Nicaragua named Francisco Valdivia. Both are 16 years old. Many sources are saying Morban got a $1.1-1.2 mil bonus. Other than them its hard to find any info on any other signings, anyone have info on any others? I know some of you know a hell of a lot more than I do. Engle made two big signings last year in Jharmidy DeJesus and Gabriel Noriega. I wonder if thats his strategy. Hopefully we'll see a few of these players come up through the minors in the next couple years.

Press release from Mariners with quotes from Engle on each player

ESPN had this to say about Morban and Valdivia:

Morban can play anywhere in the outfield, but his good defense and arm belong in center field. He is not too big (5-11, 178) but has speed on the base paths and swings an occasionally powerful bat. Morban bats from the left side and has a strong grasp of the game.

Valdivia has a nice build (6-3, 185) but needs to work on his mechanics, something that is not surprising if we take into account that he turned 16 in March. Valdivia pitches with a three-quarter arm slot, and his fastball reaches 91 mph.

M's GM Search

Zonis — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:07:27 -0000

What is the status of the M's GM search?

I get the general feeling that Ownership is looking for a Yes-Man, and is getting ready to meddle in the affiars of any new GM that would come. I believe they stated that the new GM would not have anywhere close to the control of the organization as Bill Bavasi had, and we all know how much ownership meddled even then (not to say that Bavasi was any good... then again, WOOOO SPRING BREAK!).

Because of that stance, it looks like David Forst and Chris Antonetti declined to be considered for the M's GM job. I think of the four people that the USS Mariner wanted to be the GM, only Kim Ng is still in play.

So what will happen? Will the new GM be good, or will it be more of the same? Bavasi 2.0 or worse? Will ownership be selling any time soon?

What the hell, Billy Beane consults on a video game?

bluemax — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:40:51 -0000

Sporting News Article

MarketWatch Article

The source I found this on seems to think it could be good due to the developer (Blue Castle Games). If nothing else it could provide another competitor to the OOTP/Baseball Mogul world. Still a real development team and an actual license makes it a pretty attactive option for fantasy GMs of the world.

I can't wait for Geoff Baker's winter articles on his team!

[Matthew's Note: Format links properly (see the chain link button) and use more than 75 words]

Fall/Winter League updates

marc w — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:20:32 -0000

The Hawaii Winter Baseball league started near the end of September, so the teams have played 10-11 games to this point. The Arizona Fall League started on the 7th of October.

The Caribbean leagues start next week in most cases - most high-level M's prospects/players end up with the Lara Cardenales in the VWL, but Wlad and a few prospects will be playing in the Dominican instead. J at Mariner Minors will probably cover these leagues, and has the wrap-up on M's representatives in the Baseball America top 20 prospects in each minor league.

The M's have several prospects in the prestigious Arizona Fall League this year, headlined by Carlos Triunfel and Greg Halman. Triunfel is the youngest player in the league by a wide margin, and Halman would vie for that spot if Triunfel wasn't around. Despite this, they're both off to hot starts. Halman has played every OF spot and is off to a 6-13 start with a 2B and only 2 Ks. Triunfel has played 2b and SS and is 5-13 with 3 2Bs, 1K and 1BB.

Rob Johnson is the injury replacement for Adam Moore, but has played only one game behind the plate, with one appearance as a DH.

The pitching 'spects in Peoria include Joe Woerman, Doug Fister, Stephen Kahn and Gaby Hernandez. Fister, Woermanand Kahn have each thrown 1 scoreless inning so far.

The HWL restarted a few years back as a league for low-minors prospects *and* advanced prospects from Japan (the NPB players seem older; I'd guess quite a few are corporate league vets). Given that the players weren't as advanced as AFL guys, expectations weren't terribly high. However, with draft hold-outs, injuries, etc., the league has managed to nab some of the better prospects in the game, often before they become household names. Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain, Jeff Clement and Rick Vanden Hurk were all members of the original class in 2006, and Matt Wieters made his pro debut there last year. This year, the league's headlined by 1st round picks Buster Posey, Yonder Alonso and 2007 1st rounder (and TJ surgery veteran) Andrew Brackman.

The only M's name of any note is Cuban 1B prospect Johan Limonta. He's been old for his league in 2007 and 2008, but he's a 1B prospect who could take a walk, so he was at least moderately interesting. So far, he's uh... he's struggling. In 29 at bats, he's got 3 hits and has struck out a remarkable 14 times with 0 walks. SSS, sure, but... oww. He's also had some time in LF, so we'll see if he plays more OF in West Tennessee next year.

The other M's farmhands on the Waikiki Beachboys include Jamie McOwen, who's been batting leadoff and playing CF, and pitchers Rob Harmon and Steven Richard.

Grand Moff-Topic Post of the Day

Phildopip — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:30:56 -0000

Did I just reveal my nerdiness there? I hope so not.

Let's take a breeze through the news today.

Rotten Tomatoes doesn't like Body of Lies, nor does it like City of Ember.

Tampa schools don't like mohawks.

Shark Jesus cometh.

Would you rather have shark fins, but no gills; or gills but no lungs?

Would you rather have needles for leg hair, or have needles for the hair on your head?

OTFPOTD 10!/7! edition

seattlebruin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:04:07 -0000

This post fulfills my weekly OTFPOTD quota. It's not my best work.

And don't question my use of signs, I'm aware the multiplication sign is a stupid looking star on the computer, but if it were real life, it would be a dot placed between the two numbers.

A Topic for Discussion

It's occurred to me that Lookout Landing should have a movie or theme park or such about it. Who would star? What would happen?

LL-Themed Merchandise and Products

Update LLikipedia!

Have at it, it's the OTFPOTD!

Sweet, sweet schadenfreude

brick Royl — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:38:33 -0000

Even HH admits that bandwagoners are not only plentiful in Anaheim, but also cheap! A good read for anyone who hates the Halos. (Or, more specifically, their fans.) It's one of the most ridiculous stories I've read lately, and I'd be shocked if it didn't qualify for a major newspaper feature.

Call me naive or biased, but I just don't see that kinda stuff happening in Boston, regardless of the metric shit-tons of all-of-a-sudden fan support.

Maybe we just have stricter return policies out here.

10/8 OTDOTD: The chronicles of Nate Silver's television career

Double06 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:06:08 -0000

I sit here typing on my laptop in front of my TV with the Colbert Report on TV, waiting for Nate Silver to come on while I enjoy my first Jubelale of the season. And it's more delicious than I remember. I wasn't going to post about a political comedy show, so I'm going to tread carefully and focus on anything baseball that is discussed. Colbert's intro: "My guest Nate Silver is a baseball statistician who thinks he can predict the election. My prediction? Cubs lose!" (Silver picked the Cubs to win)

Silver looks nerdier with glasses off than glasses on. And he almost said DEVIL when talking about the Rays. Draw from this what you will.

Talks about 534...talks about 534... Baseball metephors for politics... Oooh, he just compared the candidates to teams, and one of them was from Seattle. It was amusing. Colbet laughed, the audience laughed, I laughed. That is all I am permitted to say.

Silver goes on to use statistical analysis to predict jetpacks will be available for commercial purchase in 2036.

Wow, that was short and I'm disappointed I stayed up to watch that. My diary is looking rather stupid now that I have nothing left to write about it. Good thing these fine people did the rest of the writing for me...

Topics to discuss:

~ Your politics-filtered take on Nate Silver on the Colbert Report if you watched it.

~ Spielberg and Paramount call it splitsville. Your favorite Spielburg flick?

~ Who is Lewis Hamilton and why is this 4-year-old being paid $30 grand to be the next him? Anyways, that's freaking amazing.

~ Which will end the world first: The man-made black hole, the ring of fire, this, a genocide from an unknown blogger when the Sens lose to the Ducks in a Stanley Cup Game 7 this year, or [insert clusterfuck here]?

~ Fuck the Altima, build your own coupe, SB. It's faster, it's cooler, it's cheaper, it's street legal, and people will think you spent a cool $60 grand for a car nobody has ever seen before.

~ ^ And make sure to make it angry-faced or people will think you're a wussy and paid less for it.

~ I have spent way, way too much time playing this game. Your favorite SFW timewasters?

~ Your company going under? Follow the new trend in sales: humorous honesty.

~ Eight extremely underrated South Park songs. Although I would argue it's 7. And the new season starts tomorrow!

LCS poll

Schaefer — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:55:36 -0000

Since the majority of those who voted in the LDS poll were rooting for the Cubs and Brewers, we need a new poll for the LCS:

In my opinion it's hard not to root for the Rays to win the ALCS. Many Red Sox fans have become increasingly incorrigible and their games in Safeco are quite unenjoyable. Plus, the Rays are awesome in just about every way.

In the National League, I've always had a soft spot for the Dodgers. I know that's not a commonly held sentiment around here though, and in this series I don't think I can help but root for Jamie Moyer and the rest of the Phillies squad.

Poll

Who are you rooting for in the League Championship Series?

OFFTOP of the Moment 10.07.02008

NOLAmarinergirl — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:11:18 -0000

Let's all take a moment and celebrate: THERE ARE NO MORE ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Now if the Dodgers could just go down...

Now, some topics to keep us off-topic:

♥Why the hell can I not win at Pathwords?

♥Cars with parental controls--thoughts?

♥This scares the shit out of me

♥Will this help sb or just confuse him more?

♥Fuck my legs--how do I stop from hurting for days after playing soccer?

♥What are you reading right now, and how many books (that you actually own) are in your queue?

♥Speaking of sexy, apparently women want it all.

OTFPOTD: October 6th Early Edition (Now in wintergreen flavor)

BrianL — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:08:17 -0000

It's about midnight, and it's a raining outside. High winds expected again in the Everett area today.

Why am I up so late? I've got to DJ a dance this week and one of my old 1/8" to XLR cables has gone bad and I'm too cheap to buy a new one. In other words, I'm cannibalizing some old cables and soldering them together.

Anyhoo, interesting links of the day:

New Nintendo DS will have a camera built into it, so you might want to wait a little while before buying one PositivePaul.

Deus Ex 3 details emerging. I loved the first Deus Ex and liked the second one. I can't wait for a third one.

Adam Savage gets drunk then runs on a treadmill. Captured in high-speed for your enjoyment.

Next Knights of the Old Republic game to be a MMORPG fuck you Bioware.

Remember DooM? Boy this takes me back.

So does this one.

Potential discussion topics

Bill Murray is interested in Ghostbusters 3. Would you watch it?
Best root beer: Thomas Kemper. Y/N?
Do you enjoy thunderstorms?
Has anyone read The Name of the Wind?

Last week we discussed a lot of Top 11 lists. Here's my Top 11 Favorite Video Games of All Time. Your list/thoughts?

Chrono Trigger
Super Mario World
DooM
Half-Life 2
Deus Ex
System Shock 2
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
The Dig
Final Fantasy VI (III in Japan)
Mass Effect
Xenosaga

I'm off to play Doctor Frankenstein with these audio cables again.

Mysportslessons.com

mysportslessons.com — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:16:00 -0000

MYSPORTSLESSONS is a sports lessons database designed to help instructors advertise their lessons while helping children and adults find the best available instruction, so they can improve in their respective sports.

We're a new site, so spread the word as it will become the preeminent sports lessons site available on the Internet.

The founders played with the Angels and Phillies, so come check out the site and we appreciate all feedback. This site is great for true sports fans!

Slightly Hungover OTFPOTD for 10/4

pdb — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:23:25 -0000

Nobody's going to read these weekend ones anyway, so I can just freestyle. If only I wasn't hungover, I could do such a thing. Oh beer, why must you treat me so badly when I'm always so nice to you?

Music questions ahoy!

Husker Du's Zen Arcade: Alternative rock masterpiece or unlistenable wall of noise? I love Husker Du but I tend towards the latter opinion of this particular album.

David Bowie's Heroes: Most brutal love song ever? It sounds so inspiring, but the people in the song are so broken; they want to be so whole, it hurts.

The New Bomb Turks: Best band you've probably never heard of? You really need to check these guys out.

Also, I might mention how awesome it is to go to a little dive bar and hear a random, anonymous punk band do a great cover of my favorite Groovie Ghoulies song.

VACATION PICTURES

RED29 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:51:58 -0000

On the advice from Robert, Im puting the link to my vacation pictures here as well.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=9260576&albumId=2256665

It was a great trip. It kinda sucked not being able to keep up on the M's and missing out on almost two weeks of what was going on here but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. Just in a nutshell...

-New Jersey sucks

-The ceremonies at Yankee Stadium were beyond awesome

-I can tolerate the people in New York for about three days before I get REALLY pissed at them

-Fenway is still cool even though I fucking hate their team

-The fans at Shea are...different

-Baltimore and DC both have great stadiums but rain + no roof = GAY

-I miss Adam Jones. Talking to him during the game and him remembering me were a couple of the major highlights of the trip

-Philly is alright, nothing too special but still cool to see a different ballpark

-What the hell were the organizers thinking having ceremonies after the game at Shea, just stupid.

OTFPOTDEIEIO 10-3 Edition

PositivePaul — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:27:28 -0000

Wow, so what? There's not one of these yet? Maybe someone's busy writing one now, and it's a race to see how quickly we can get it posted.

In case you wanted to go have the flesh-eating-fish pedicure, well, the state stepped in and said you can't.

I'm still freaking out about moving next Thursday. But when I get in the house, should I open a Cabernet Savignon or stick with the Cuvee that I'm dying to open? I still drink beer, but both my wife and I prefer red wine nowadays...

Where's Librocrat these days? Busy with politics stuff, I'm sure, but I figured at some point he'd come here and mention something about the apparent suicide of Choi Jin-sil.

Finally, I love this site:

This is the first time I've ever done one of these.

Off Topic FanPost of Tomorrow, Today! 10/02/02008

acblue — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:56:53 -0000

I don't expect this OTFPOTD to be as busy as others, what with the Rays playing today and all, but there's still time to kill. Most of said time will be dead to rites well before I wake up tomorrow, but the OTFPOTD serves not only the poster but the greater good.

I am genuinely interested in the following:

Do Italian-style chicken sausages benefit from being cooked in beer? If so, if the quality/style of beer, or should I just go for a tallboy of Vitamin R?
It's that time of year; chili season! Chili is pretty much my favorite thing ever in the history of the world, and I'm in no way dogmatic; it's all good. We all have our secrets; care to share?
The Divisional Series Gamethread brought some interesting cultural differences to light. In that spirit, are there any bands/movies/TV shows/books/games/whatever that you've never been able to quite grasp the appeal of? Lively discussion may follow, but we're all friends here; this is a safe place.
DEAR GOD DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY JOB LEADS! I AM SO GODDAMNED TIRED OF MY JOB IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY PLEASE HELP! I'M GOOD AT STUFF I PROMISE AND I LEARN FAST! JUST GET ME THE HOLY FUCK OUT OF HERE AAAAAHHHHH!
Failing that, anyone know of any side jobs that are less than mind-numbingly boring? I can only give a few hours a week (or a couple days for a one-off type of deal) but I'm quite capable and trustworthy.
Script.
How awesome is Meg White?
Pretty fucking awesome.

via asapblogs.typepad.com

Watching the playoffs with my computing machine

short — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:09:02 -0000

MLB has been a real mixed bag for those of us who want to access its content through our "thinkin' irons." With goofy blackout restrictions meaning you usually can't watch your team I've stayed away from any of their online packages.

So now the playoffs are here and I find their options baffling. The "MLB.tv with Gameday Audio" package is really a live audio package with post-game archived videos. Bogus.

Then there's TBS' HotCorner ("hoootcoooorner"). WTF is this thing? How do I get it? Do I have to pay for it? This promotional article on MLB.com leaves something to be desired as advertising in that it really doesn't tell me how to pay for and acquire the product.

I guess I'm just dim so I'll just go here at noon when the Phils-Pilots Brewers game begins and see what happens. Anyone else know how to watch the playoffs over the tubes?

OTFPOTD 8/62, Written in Six Minutes Edition

seattlebruin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:29:28 -0000

As suggested in the title, this FanPost is written in six minutes or less and thus the author takes no responsibility for the content contained or lack thereof.

Potential topics for discussion

Anyone have a current Carfax that can run a VIN for me? I can pay in recs (or flags, your choice)

Good board games

LL Risk? LL other games? LL conference call drunk Taboo?

Good card games

List online radio stations so I can try and find one that's not blocked

most of my tags will pertain to other posters, kind of like BrianL

Playoff Teams??

darmok — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:23:00 -0000

I'm interested to see who everyone's rooting for around here...I'm guessing that everyone wants the Rays to win but beyond that I have no idea.

I'm voting Rays, Red Sox, Brewers, Cubs. Not a Sox fan, but I can't root for the angels. Plus, seeing the Rays beat the Sox in the ALCS would be awesome.

I guess the text of poll options doesn't count towards this seventy-five word limit. So I'll also say that a White Sox-Cubs world series would be cool for multiple reasons. Go vote!!