per usual, another Russian boy doing insane parkour
Manhattan Clam Chowder: For Deron Bauman, New York Giants Fan
Though it’s not nearly as famous, there is a non-New-England kind of clam chowder out there. Instead of the heavy cream or milk, this one is laced with tomatoes and a healthy abundance of other vegetables.
It makes for a lighter chowder, but still a comforting one, especially during frightful weather. This Manhattan clam chowder recipe from Martha Stewart hits all the right notes. There is the porky base, the chunky vegetables, and of course the all-important clams.
Nasty Doritos
Super Bowl Party Checklist
Michael Smith: Meatless chili (some ground meat substitute, beer, espresso, broth, spices, peppers, tofu, onion, and garlic).
Deron Bauman: Gluten-free vegan nachos.
Sheila Ryan: Refreshing lemon dessert.
Or: New England vs. Manhattan clam chowder.
finally
About a year ago this post went up without much explanation:
Joel and Deron* have put on something over their jockstraps.
*The one he wears like a mask*.
*To block the image of Michael nesting in Troy Polamalu’s hair*.
*A frequent dream of Deron’s that leaves him feeling oddly aroused.
Originally created by Michael on September 9, 2010 and scheduled to publish the morning following the Super Bowl the post looked like this:
The NFL season has ended
And was changed by Deron on September 12:
I have the strength to say it. Deron, you are the handsomest man I know.
El Wingador
Errol Morris interviewed competitive eater El Wingador:
El Wingador is a man truly committed to a certain kind of excellence — or at least, a certain kind of excess. Sure, I could have picked a different eating champion, but I guess I have an affinity for chicken. It is evident that chicken is his favorite competition food — particularly chicken wings. I asked him, “Why not hot dogs?” The simple and compelling answer: “Hey, my name is ‘El Wingador,’ not ‘El Hotdogador.’”
Metta World Peace thanks Jesus Christ that he still has his teeth
So not only did he build the world in seven days and seven nights, but he also said, “OK, let them lose their teeth early, rather than late.”
Bill Maher explains Socialism and the NFL
A short essay animated from the audio recording of ‘The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass’.
Directed and Animated by Fraser Davidson.
(thanks, Chris)
Warning: Grenade Splasherz
This from my friend TigErrrrrrrr:
It’s funny how when you buy these 2-packs of Grenade Splasherz @ Von’s Grocery Stores (impulse items next to the GIANT $4.49 each size of Red Bull!!!) they carry this warning across the top label: “Do not aim or throw at anyone’s face.”
Much more fun is what it says across the bottom of the label: “Squeeze’em, Soak ‘em, & Throw ‘em!” :^) YAY !!!!!
The Lake, The Hood & The Golf Course
After we’d talked for a while, we got in my rental car and went for a drive around his ward. “It’s beautiful, but it’s not for us,” Knowles said, as we rode through Harbor Shores. “It’s not for poor people.” I had asked Knowles if he slept at City Hall, and he took me by his house, which he said he rents for about $250 a month. “I don’t sell dope,” he volunteered, explaining how he pays his rent. “I come out and hustle — electrical jobs, cutting grass, whatever.” […]
When I dropped him back at City Hall, Knowles got out of the car and said goodbye, then poked his head back in the passenger window. “Hey,” he said, “can you spare a couple of bucks so I can get myself a bag of chips and a pop?”
This is an excerpt from Jonathan Mahler’s Simon-esque piece on Benton Harbor, Michigan, for the NYT Magazine a few weeks back. The bit above is from a conversation Mahler has with an unemployed Benton Harbor resident who is also a city commissioner for one of the city’s poorest wards.
For those of you who don’t know, I grew up in the area and my family has lived there for a few generations. The article is a longer piece focusing on the city’s socio-economic problems and new divisions over a golf course and property development on Lake Michigan called Harbor Shores, which is hoped to improve the impoverished city’s attractiveness for future investment. The only problem is that most of the developers and proponents for Harbor Shores are affluent and white, while most of Benton Harbor is impoverished and black – oh, and the golf course was built on a chunk of the city’s one nice park at the lakefront.
It’s a feature worth reading and not just because it’s about the clashes between a city’s residents and a group of well-intentioned (if not woefully ignorant) outsiders that believe they can solve deeply-rooted problems of poverty and crime by introducing the game of golf. I like to think it’s also because Mahler turned my old stomping grounds into a moral fable for today’s social, cultural and economic divisions.
Tim Tebow & Why Faith Makes Us Nervous
If you all haven’t already happened upon it, Chuck Klosterman wrote an absolutely fascinating essay for Grantland describing the significance of Tim Tebow and why he seems to be so polarizing as a professional football player. It’s mostly about Tebow and football, except that it’s not – it’s about so much more than that:
I doubt many Christians believe that God is unfairly helping Tebow win games in the AFC West. I’m sure a few hardcores might, but not many. However, I get the impression that especially antagonistic secularists assume this assumption infiltrates every aspect of Tebow’s celebrity, and that explains why he’s so beloved by strangers they cannot relate to. Their negative belief is that penitent, conservative Americans look at Tebow and see a man being “rewarded” for his faith, which validates the idea that believing in something abstract is more important than understanding something real. And this makes them worried about the future, because they see that thinking everywhere. It seems like the thinking that ran this country into the ground.
I don’t think I’ve read such a straight-forward and correct explanation for why I get so nervous in a culture preoccupied more with feeling something than knowing anything. Also, I’m fairly convinced that some of the best writing happening today is on Grantland, the little sports website that could.
Photo out of context
quote out of context
Off the field, I’m all hers. But on the field, I’m a monster. And I don’t want my queen to be associated with a monster.
Clark
That is all.
my current desktop
The ascent of Alex Honnold
A 60 Minutes segment on free-soloist Alex Honnold. I climbed pretty extensively in my twenties and early thirties, and video like this is almost impossible to contextualize. He’s at least a thousand feet above the ground, without ropes or fixed gear.
Previously, on clusterflock.
Greek Tragedy Played Out High School Football Style
This week I was reminded of this game from the Texas high school football playoffs in 1994. We join the action with about 3 minutes remaining in the game.
I don’t get football, but I get this.
this post is about football statistics
The first thing Romer did was analyze every fourth down during the first quarter of every NFL game between 1998 and 2000. (He had help from a computer program.) Then, he figured out the fluctuating value of a first down at each point on the football field. After all, a first down was more valuable for a team if it occurred on an opponents two yard line than on their own twenty yard line. The next thing Romer calculated was the statistical likelihood of going for it on fourth down under various circumstances and actually getting a first down. He also calculated the probability of kicking a successful field goal from various spots on the field.
of Twitter trends, my interests, Tony Romo, and Stephen Hawking
This is probably a little too ‘things I’m interested in’, but The Dallas Cowboys lost Sunday night after being up 17 points in the fourth quarter. Something that hasn’t happened in like 240 games. Since the meltdown, there has been a #quarterbacksbetterthanromo Twitter trend. A few of the best I’ve seen: Stephen Hawking, Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite, and the guy who threw his shoes at Bush.
(thanks, Aaron)
quote out of context
And then, obviously, because I am perverse, I was put off it by its ubiquity and other people’s enthusiasm. Others’ loss of perspective about its merits made me lose my own. Maybe I was trying to lower the average human opinion of the oeuvre closer to what it deserves by artificially forcing mine well below that level. Incidentally, this is where the parallels with my view of football end: even if that were a struggling minority sport only played by a few hundred enthusiastic amateurs, I would still consider it an overrated spectacle that lures vital funding away from snooker.
hat tip: Sarah
Emmitt Smith Plays With a Dislocated Shoulder
Since we’re talking momentous occasions from 90s-era sports history.
from the moderated comment spam
Slam dunkin like Shaquille O’Neal, if he wrote informative airctles.
Update:
Way to go on this essay, hleeped a ton.
photo out of context
spam name
Reggie Craft.
