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In reality, "Red Dawn" star Josh Peck says, Twitter would be the No. 1 communication tool during a foreign invasion.
"#holy[bleep]," says the actor, best known for Nickelodeon's "Drake and Josh" series and films including "The Wackness." "#OhMyGodWe'reAtWar. #I'mSo[Bleeping]ScaredRightNow. [Laughs.] It would be intense."
In the remake of the 1984 cult favorite opening Friday, Twitter's not an option. High school quarterback Matt (Peck), his older brother/Marine Jed (Chris Hemsworth), Robert (Josh Hutcherson) and others have only their courage and loyalty to each other to help them fight an army of North Koreans who fly into Spokane, Wash. The new "Red Dawn" was filmed in 2009 and signifies the rare action movie that emphasizes character and on-the-ground combat over 3-D effects and CGI battles.
Over breakfast at Brunch in River North, the 26-year-old New York native talked about how he'd react in an invasion, bleeding on the set and his desire to remake "The Mighty Ducks."
The movie presents such an extreme situation. How do you think you would react if this really happened?
I'd be dead. I'm pretty sure. I don't know if I'm exactly in a position to help protect anything. I hope that they would be able to use me in some sort of USO fashion. [Laughs.] Entertaining the troops, distracting them as they're fighting and whatnot. I think in pretty much every respect that's what I would be best at.
They're like, "The war just started, Josh, stop trying to say you want to do stand-up. They're in the middle of fighting."
Exactly. I'd be like, "Listen, they need some sort of entertainment while they're having their mid-day lunch."
"If everyone can just cease fire ..."
"Is this thing on? How 'bout that mustard gas, huh? How come mustard has the condiment monopoly on warfare?"
You weren't hugely into sports growing up. How much training did you have to do to be a high school quarterback for "Red Dawn?"
I got put in football training for a week. This movie was like boyhood fantasy after boyhood fantasy come true between military training and being with Navy SEALs and Marines. Thank God I had this brilliant double who was an arena football [player]. If at all I come across cool it's because of him … I think there was even a play where I forgot to line up behind the center. I lined up behind some outside lineman. My center was this 340-pound black man, and the lineman I got behind was like 220-pound white dude. They were like, "Um, there might be a clear distinction in who you should be getting the ball from."
So is it half you and half the double in the movie?
Absolutely … People that are the best seem to be quite at ease, or at least that's what they project is being super comfortable and ready for anything, and watching quarterbacks on TV and looking at some of the greats I found that they have this ease about them. Because literally they're the guys when time is ticking down that it falls on their shoulders. I don't think they can be bugging out at the last moment. So [I tried for] some of that swagger—I don't know if I accomplished it, but it felt good in the moment.
Did you try to model that after any particular quarterback?
No quarterback in particular because I don't know, are there any Jew quarterbacks? [Laughs.]
I wish.
I know, right. Is there like the Sandy Koufax of the NFL?
I've thought about that. Same with basketball. We don't have much representation.
I guess we don't. There was a couple of guys in the NHL.
And baseball primarily.
Baseball for sure. We got a couple homeboys out there. You never know, they might recruit some kid from Haifa. [Laughs.]
Anything's possible. You wound up with a scar and some stitches. What were those incidents like, and what was going through your head at the time?
Well I got two stitches here [near his left ear] because there's a scene where I'm running to go save my girlfriend in the movie, and the gun that I'm holding caught on the end of a seat and wound up knocking me in the head. And there's blood coming down and I was like, "Let's go again." And they were like, "Why don't you try the hospital first?" So now I'm in the Detroit trauma center and the doctor looks at me he says "What happened?" I said, "For real, doc?" He was like, "Yeah." I said, "I was running down a school bus with an AK-47 and it hit me in the head." He's like, "Oh, third one today. So, are you an extra?" I'm like, "Let me assure you, I'm a pretty big deal, bro."
As the ego slowly deflates …
Absolutely! I was like, "Should we get a plastic surgeon?" He's like, "For what? That face?" So he sewed me up real quick and I was right back out there. And I got one [on my left arm], you can't really see it but it looks kind of like a cigar burn or something, but I put my arm through a board. So I have that one for life.
Have you had any scars or physical injuries on the job before?
Not on the job. Just on the job of life. In my real life I'm pretty clumsy.
What's the worst thing that happened to you off the job before?
I mean I've broken like five bones. I broke this arm twice, this arm once, my right leg twice. Stitches here. Stitches in my legs. I'm not the most graceful of all people. But I got a couple good stories.
It seems like Chris Hemsworth was asked to step up and be the leader when going though the military training. What was it like watching him transform into a guy who was supposed to be a Marine?
He's a natural leader in that respect. He was 26 when we were shooting the film, and so he and [Adrianne Palicki] were the oldest people in the cast and then there was [Isabel Lucas] and I that were 23 and Josh Hutcherson and [Connor Cruise] that were 14 and 16. In that respect, much like the characters in the movie, they were the maternal and patriarch aspect of the film. And so they ushered us to a lot of things and took care of us in many ways. Especially with Chris he would laugh with me and another actor in the film, this kid Julian [Alcaraz] who played Greg, we were kind of the young kids always giving him a hard time. [Chris] was like, "Come here, my little cubs." He would like call us his little cubs. We'd be sitting at the lunch table in the middle of the day. He'd be like, "Oy, little cubs hungry." That's like my awful Australian accent.
That was an accent?
Yeah. I don't even know what just happened. I'm not proud of it. I've done "oy" before and I feel like I got something going on. A little touch of the Outback. Cheers.
Did anyone ever accidentally call him "dad"?
Me. I have him under "Dad" in my cell phone. "Daddy" actually. He's an awesome dude. There's a natural way about him that's really endearing, and we became really good friends.
What other '80s movies do you hope get remade?
I think they might be remaking "Taps." That was a pretty big movie in my upbringing. I'm already into the '90s bro. I hope they remake "The Mighty Ducks" because I'd be all over that. Or "Heavyweights"? Oh, God.
You want that?
What, a remake of "Mighty Ducks"? Oh my God. Listen, that movie's on sacred ground for me. If there would be any chance for Joshua Jackson to bless me with the role of Charlie Conway, I'd be in in a big way.
Do you think you can still play a high school kid?
I'll figure it out. We'll update it. We'll make it college. We'll make it the community college "Mighty Ducks."
There was "D3" … oh that was still high school.
They were in boarding school, bro. [Laughs.]
That movie makes no sense.
Oh, I love it.
The third one too?
They're all good!
The third one they spend all their time competing against their own school!
Against varsity. They're tough. Oh man.
You clearly know that series pretty well.
I really do. And then Julie the cat takes over for Goldberg in net. It's good times.
Which is your favorite of those?
Number two ["D2: The Mighty Ducks"] is the best one. The line where they finally win in the end against team Iceland, and then the line where coach says to Gunnar Stahl (attempts an Iceland accent), "You lost it for me, Gunnar," and Gunnar looks at him and goes (Iceland accent), "You lost it for yourself." I don't know, is that Scottish? I'm bad at impressions. [Laughs.]
I don't know how to do an Icelandic accent.
Come on, get on that!
I thought you were going to do, "Good work, Captain Duck."
That's a great one too!
Is it a weight off your shoulders and a push forward in your career now that "Red Dawn" is finally coming out?
It's great to have closure on something that you've thought about over years. Inevitably as working actors you're only as good as your last job, so it's like sales in that respect. So you want stuff to come out that you're proud of so that you can go on and keep working and find the next thing. I'm excited for a number of reasons. For everyone involved to have a little closure on this. I think it's a perfect weekend to come out. It was kind of divinely perfect with the timing because Chris hadn't had "Thor" come out yet when we shot the film and Josh hadn't done "Hunger Games" and now that their star power can hopefully help the movie be more visible only helps everyone involved. It's kind of great. Then I get to ask Josh about Liam [Hemsworth] and Jennifer Lawrence all day. [Laughs.]
Do you feel any sense of mild instinctive competitiveness about the fact that now Chris and Josh have had those successes, as far as you wanting to have a franchise to latch onto?
I don't know. That's never been a huge goal of mine. It would be an amazing thing to be a part of if it turned out that way, but it's never been the first thing that came to mind as far as what I wanted, something I was really dying to do. I think they were both perfect for exactly the movies that they did, so it's cool that we all became friends before that and now I get to watch them and be a fan of my friends. But doing movies like "The Wackness" before this and whatnot. I would just love to do another really great character driven piece, hopefully in New York. Whether I'm selling pot or not is up to the filmmaker. [Laughs.]
I watched an interview recently where you mentioned frequently committing a lot of faux pas with women. I was curious why you said that and what comes to mind.
I don't know if I come across as the smoothest of all operators.
Why not? If people mistake you for a young John Travolta …
I get Travolta sometimes. Or Sly Stallone. Which is cool in itself. I'm a fan. I've never been the coolest guy when it comes to that stuff. But I'm getting better. I remember once I was sitting with this girl, it was at this party and I guess there was some chemistry there that I was unaware of because when we were talking, I said, "So, what are you up to tomorrow?" She's like, "Why, are you asking me out?" I said, "No, I'm just asking you what you're doing tomorrow. Are you busy?"
"Here's the signal. Here's the signal. Oh, you don't want it?"
I was like, "No, no no, do you have hobbies?" And then later in the car I was bashing my head, like, "I'm an idiot!"
You've been on screen for such a big part of your life. When you look back, what do you remember as the most surreal aspect of living part of your childhood and growing up into an adult in the public eye?
Being on "Drake and Josh," the TV show on Nickelodeon I did for so many years ... It was from 14 to 19, which was your high school years in many ways. I didn't really understand the scope of that show when doing it and how many lives the show affected and how many kids really grew up with it. So now years later, especially the fact that it's on in reruns, and seeing the way that families love that show and the ability to make kids laugh has been this gift. I think now with enough perspective and years removed to see the effect that show had and knowing that I got to be a part of it's pretty cool. And I don't know if I realized that as much in the moment.
Does it almost feel like a different person when you look back and watch yourself?
Oh yeah. For sure. I had a bit of a transformation, but that would be natural for most people just looking back at their high school years and going, "Who was that person?" I'm sure at 35 I'll be like, "Who's that jerk eating eggs Benedict with salmon during an interview? Who am I?"
What we ordered (if anyone cares):
Pais: Omelet with Egg Beaters (Peck had never heard of them), grilled chicken, carmelized onions, spinach, cheddar
Peck: Smoked salmon eggs Benedict
On Chicago: "I've only been here two days in my life … I really like it. It's a beautiful city. [With unlimited time here] I'd eat ridiculous amounts of deep dish pizza. Take in a baseball game. I don't know. I would just hang out and enjoy the city. It's like living in L.A., there's a part of that city life that's lost on me now. I grew up in New York but L.A. has a way of beating that out of you in some respects. [You tell yourself], 'You don't need it! Don't worry, you love driving in traffic! You're having the best time of your life!' And then you get to this urban metropolis and you're like, 'I feel comfortable here.'"
What he'd want to talk about with Charlie Sheen, who played Matt in the original "Red Dawn": "So many things. He lives in the valley and so do I so already there's so much common ground. I think I would start at 'Platoon' and go from there. I would pretty much just ask him every random movie cinephile geek question I could get out … And once I got to 'Two and a Half Men' we'd be here all night. I'd be like, 'Come on, tell me about that Cryer magic.'"
How he plans to celebrate his 26th birthday (which was Nov. 10): "I'm always apprehensive about doing anything, and then my mom is great in that respect in that she always wants to take over and be the one who's like, 'This is what we should be doing.' I'm like, 'Mom, you're 68, I'm not exactly sure if you know what me and my boys want to be doing.' Usually it's a real chill dinner with my friends and enjoy just getting to be with them. I try not to think about it too much; if I over-think it then I inevitability wind up being disappointed."
He's also going to see Barbra Streisand the following day with his mom: "That's like her early birthday gift, which is in June. I've been to way too many Barbra Streisand concerts that any young man should be. But now I've grown to appreciate it and it makes my mom happy … [I've been to] three, four in the last decade. I've been rolling. Now I'm going to see her at the Hollywood Bowl."
His culinary splurges: "I like Asian food a lot. I'll go, sushi's pretty healthy but the way we've Americanized it where we deep-fry rolls and [bleep] can be a little bit fattening. I like dessert and stuff. All the normal boring fat dude things I enjoy. "
Guilty pleasure movie: "I like random fighting movies. Like 'Fighting' with Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard. Terrence Howard's really good in that movie. And his shirt's off so I'm in. And stuff like 'Never Back Down' and what not … And then 'MacGruber' is awesome … I love it. I think it's so damn funny. For me where movies lose me is where they try to be something that they're not. If it's a comedy and it tries to be really high conceptual and whatnot. I love a good stupid comedy that doesn't try to be anything more than that. And just is ridiculous and mainstream. It's the ones that try to be the hybrid that I'm like, 'No thanks, I want no part of that.'"
Watch Matt on "You & Me This Morning," Friday at 6:55 a.m. on WCIU, the U
Want more? Discuss this article and others on RedEye's Facebook page.


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The panel discussion "A Pope for All Christians? Protestants and Catholics Discuss the Meaning and Role of the Papacy" will take place at Hope College on Monday, March 11, at 4 p.m. in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The event will feature four members of the faculty from Hope and Western Theological Seminary. The participants will be Dr. Jack Mulder Jr., associate professor of philosophy; Dr. Jared Ortiz, assistant professor of religion; Dr. Sue Rozeboom, assistant professor of liturgical theology at the seminary; and Dr. Jeff Tyler, professor of religion.
Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets.

subset: commoncrawl


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A Pretty Dichotomy and True. — "Equality is a pretty lie because it pretends to assert commensurability with respect to incommensurable things. When we give up on the idea of equality though it is tempting to replace it with the idea of inequality. This is a mistake. Like its yin equality, the yang inequality carries with it a connotation of commensurability: two things which are unequal are quantitatively comparable along some axis, and one is greater than the other along that axis. So to conclude that (in a comparison of incommensurables) inequality is the case from the fact that equality is false is to make the same mistake that got us here in the first place." 1
With due respect for the author, I must nonetheless disagree. No connotation of commensurability or quantifiability is carried within the concept of inequality per se. Whether or not two things are commensurable, they are unequal by dint of being in fact two things and not one and the same thing. (Incommensurability means we cannot tell of two things which is the better, the greater, etc, not that we do not know that they are unequal in some way.) "Incommensurable" is not a third option between "equal" and "unequal". There is no third option. Either A or not-A, equal or unequal. Hence, giving up on the idea of the equality of things — i.e., regaining humble sanity — just means accepting their inequality, commensurable or not.
. . .
1. Zippy Catholic, "All men are not created unequal", Zippy Catholic (weblog), 14th November 2012.


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The increasingly contentious fight for the White House moved from the debate stage back to the campaign trail on Wednesday as President Obama, Mitt Romney and their running mates traversed the nation's battleground states, seeking an advantage from Tuesday's fiery town-hall forum.
A day after Obama and Romney squared off in New York, the reverberations — and recriminations — flew as both sides tried to reframe a race that had been tilting in Romney's favor after the first presidential debate.
But it will take days to determine the effect of Tuesday night's event, and the candidates — as animated on Wednesday as they were onstage together — tried to re-litigate some of Tuesday's most memorable exchanges.
Obama brought a triumphant tone to rallies in Iowa and Ohio after a performance that reassured supporters who were alarmed by his widely panned first debate two weeks earlier. Speaking to a boisterous crowd of about 2,000 in a sweaty gymnasium at an Iowa college, he mocked Romney for wanting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the nation's new health-care law, which includes a provision that prevents insurers from denying coverage because of preexisting conditions.
"Being a woman is not a preexisting condition," he said, echoing a Democratic theme that Romney is insensitive to the concerns of women, a crucial voting bloc with which the Republican has recently made gains.
Vice President Biden took the argument further at a rally in Colorado, ridiculing Romney as "sketchy,'' especially for the debate-night comment that he had sought and received "binders full" of female job candidates while he was Massachusetts governor.
"When Governor Romney was asked a direct question about equal pay, he started talking about binders," Biden told a crowd of 1,100 in the closely contested swing state. "Whoa! The idea that he had to go and ask where a qualified woman was, he just should have come to my house. He didn't need a binder."
Romney struck back, charging that Obama has "failed" women. From the economy to energy to immigration, the Republican repeated many of the same sharp critiques of Obama's record that he delivered Tuesday night in New York.
On issue after issue, Romney brought up questions from voters in the session at Hofstra University and criticized Obama's answers. "When it comes to his policies and his answers and his agenda, he's pretty much running on fumes, and the American people want some real answers and a real agenda," Romney told 3,500 people at a rally in Chesapeake, Va.
Although he didn't claim victory, Romney said: "I have to be honest with you, I love these debates. You know, these things are great."
Both campaigns found something to like in Tuesday's session, the second of three encounters in what has been a closely fought presidential race focusing on a handful of key states. And even as the sprint to the Nov. 6 election resumed, they looked ahead to what is shaping up as a critical final debate on Monday in Boca Raton, Fla. The main subject will be foreign policy.
Post-debate polls declared Obama a narrow winner Tuesday night, and his aides and surrogates worked furiously on Wednesday to turn that into momentum. They focused on issues such as women's health and Romney's difficulties when he tried to attack the president over the White House's handling of the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.
Romney has seized on the assault, which killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, to back his contention that Obama has presided over a weakening of U.S. influence abroad. But he mistakenly said the president took weeks to call the Benghazi attack "an act of terror," even though, as moderator Candy Crowley of CNN pointed out, the president used those words in a statement in the Rose Garden a day after the attack. Republicans criticized Crowley's intervention.
Several Romney advisers acknowledged privately Wednesday that Obama got the better of that exchange. But publicly they said that the Libya upheaval lingers as a growing vulnerability for Obama in the campaign's closing weeks and predicted that Libya will be a major focus of Monday's final debate.
"I think people see it, and it's very troubling," Stuart Stevens, Romney's chief strategist, said in an interview Wednesday. Repeating a charge Romney made in the debate, Stevens said, "I think the idea of leaving the White House to go to a fundraiser in Las Vegas followed by another fundraiser in Colorado is something that doesn't sit well with people, when you now have a sense that it was an attack and Americans died."
Romney's advisers said they will continue to push the campaign's central argument that the candidate, a former chief executive, is better equipped than Obama to improve the sluggish economy. Although they generally portrayed the debate as a draw, they were encouraged by polls showing Romney bested Obama on economic issues. A CNN survey, for example, found that Obama won the debate 46 percent to 39 percent among voters who watched but that Romney came out ahead, by 18 percentage points, on the economy.
The Romney campaign on Wednesday called in star power to help, both from political circles and Hollywood: Dennis Miller introduced Romney at his Virginia rally, while former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice appeared with Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) at an event outside Cleveland.
"Didn't Mitt Romney do a great job for us last night?" Ryan asked the crowd, drawing loud cheers, before pivoting back to the key issue of female voters.
"You know, we had a discussion about how women are faring in this economy last night," Ryan said. "A half-million women more are unemployed today than when President Obama was sworn in. . . . We need to get people back to work."
Amy Gardner, Philip Rucker, Krissah Thompson, Felicia Sonmez, Scott Wilson and Anne Gearan contributed to this report.


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I once heard someone say that the opposite of talking is waiting.
Wise words. How many times do we find ourselves in conversations where we're waiting to say what's on our mind, rather than fully appreciating the words coming at us?
But things are different on the world wide web.
I did a little MySpace experiment three days ago, sending a bulletin to my 1700 friends and asking them to reply.
Three hundred people have replied so far.
Now I'm in the awkward position of responding to their replies, which is taking me forever. Be careful what you ask for...
While I've beenreplying, I took a look at the 800 other emails in my inbox, and realized these people deserved responses as well. Especially since some of them are from July.
Here's my deal with email; if I receive something from someone close to me, I always respond immediately.
If I receive fan mail, I try to respond within a reasonable amount of time---usually within a week.
But a portion of the emails I get are from people who want something. A blurb. A critique. An answer to a detailed question. And I let these accrue, because I always have something else I could be doing other than answering email.
It doesn't take Seth Godin to understand that this isn't very good customer service.
The future of marketing has less to do with finding new customers and more to do with enthralling the customers we already have. As a public figure, and a personal selling a product, I have a responsibility to reply to those who want my attention. Communication is the single most important form of branding.
So why am I slacking?
I have a friend who describes herself as Type A. She keeps a file of interview questions, and has cut and paste responses for every possible question she could be asked online.
I dismissed her method as impersonal. Now I applaud her genius. She's giving great customer service, at very little cost to her. Sure, the answers are canned. But that beats the sendee waiting five months for a reply. And the sendee doesn't know the answers have been given many times before. It's win-win.
So my goal for 2007 is to make sure I keep my inbox empty. I'm delighted to be in a position where people contact me, and I owe it to them to respond.
At least until it becomes so overwhelming that my addy must go dark and I have to hire a web maven to screen my emails. Or a bot. But I hate those bots, don't you? Why can't I email Stephen King or Dan Brown and ask them to blurb me?
Oh. That's why.
Monday, January 15, 2007
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Unprecedented data volumes are driving businesses to look at alternatives to the traditional relational database technology that has served us well for over thirty years. Collectively, these alternatives have become known as "NoSQL databases."
The fundamental problem is that relational databases cannot handle many modern workloads. There are three specific problem areas: scaling out to data sets like Digg's (3 TB for green badges) or Facebook's (50 TB for inbox search) or eBay's (2 PB overall), per-server performance, and rigid schema design.
Businesses, including The Rackspace Cloud, need to find new ways to store and scale large amounts of data. I recently wrote a post on Cassandra, a non-relational database we have committed resources to. There are other non-relational databases being worked on and collectively, we call this the "NoSQL movement."
The "NoSQL" term was actually coined by a fellow Racker, Eric Evans when Johan Oskarsson of Last.fm wanted to organize an event to discuss open source distributed databases. The name and concept both caught on.
Some people object to the NoSQL term because it sounds like we're defining ourselves based on what we aren't doing rather than what we are. That's true, to a degree, but the term is still valuable because when a relational database is the only tool you know, every problem looks like a thumb. NoSQL is making people aware that there are other options out there. But we're not anti-relational-database for when that really is the best tool for the job; it's "Not Only SQL," rather than "No SQL at all."
One real concern with the NoSQL name is that it's such a big tent that there is room for very different designs. If this is not made clear when discussing the various products, it results in confusion. So I'd like to suggest three axes along which to think about the many database options: scalability, data and query model, and persistence design.
I have chosen 10 NoSQL databases as examples. This is not an exhaustive list, but the concepts discussed are crucial for evaluating others as well.
Scaling reads is easy with replication, so when we're talking about scaling in this context, we mean scaling writes by automatically partitioning data across multiple machines. We call systems that do this "distributed databases." These include Cassandra, HBase, Riak, Scalaris, Voldemort, and more. If your write volume or data size is more than one machine can handle then these are your only options if you don't want to manage partitioning manually. (You don't.)
There are two things to look for in a distributed database: 1) support for multiple datacenters and 2) the ability to add new machines to a live cluster transparently to your applications.
Non-distributed NoSQL databases include CouchDB, MongoDB, Neo4j, Redis, and Tokyo Cabinet. These can serve as persistence layers for distributed systems; MongoDB provides limited support for sharding, as does a separate Lounge project for CouchDB, and Tokyo Cabinet can be used as a Voldemort storage engine.
Data and Query Model
There is a lot of variety in the data models and query APIs in NoSQL databases.
(Respective Links: Thrift, map/reduce views, Thrift, Cursor, Graph, Collection, Nested hashes, get/put, get/put, get/put)
Some highlights:
The columnfamily model shared by Cassandra and HBase is inspired by the one described by Google's Bigtable paper, section 2. (Cassandra drops historical versions, and adds supercolumns.) In both systems, you have rows and columns like you are used to seeing, but the rows are sparse: each row can have as many or as few columns as desired, and columns do not need to be defined ahead of time.
The Key/value model is the simplest and easiest to implement but inefficient when you are only interested in querying or updating part of a value. It's also difficult to implement more sophisticated structures on top of distributed key/value.
Document databases are essentially the next level of Key/value, allowing nested values associated with each key. Document databases support querying those more efficiently than simply returning the entire blob each time.
Neo4J has a really unique data model, storing objects and relationships as nodes and edges in a graph. For queries that fit this model (e.g., hierarchical data) they can be 1000s of times faster than alternatives.
Scalaris is unique in offering distributed transactions across multiple keys. (Discussing the trade-offs between consistency and availability is beyond the scope of this post, but that is another aspect to keep in mind when evaluating distributed systems.)
Persistence Design
By persistence design I mean, "how is data stored internally?"
The persistence model tells us a lot about what kind of workloads these databases will be good at.
In-memory databases are very, very fast (Redis achieves over 100,000 operations per second on a single machine), but cannot work with data sets that exceed available RAM. Durability (retaining data even if a server crashes or loses power) can also be a problem; the amount of data you can expect to lose between flushes (copying the data to disk) is potentially large. Scalaris, the other in-memory database on our list, tackles the durability problem with replication, but since it does not support multiple data centers your data will be still be vulnerable to things like power failures.
Memtables and SSTables buffer writes in memory (a "memtable") after writing to an append-only commit log for durability. When enough writes have been accepted, the memtable is sorted and written to disk all at once as a "sstable." This provides close to in-memory performance since no seeks are involved, while avoiding the durability problems of purely in-memory approaches. (This is described in more detail in sections 5.3 and 5.4 of the previously-referenced Bigtable paper, as well as in The log-structured merge-tree.)
B-Trees have been used in databases since practically the beginning of time. They provide robust indexing support, but performance is poor on rotational disks (which are still by far the most cost-effective) because of the multiple seeks involved in reading or writing anything.
An interesting variant is CouchDB's append only B-Trees, which avoids the overhead of seeks at the cost of limiting CouchDB to one write at a time.
The NoSQL movement has exploded in 2009 as an increasing number of businesses wrestle with large data volumes. The Rackspace Cloud is pleased to have played an early role in the NoSQL movement, and continues to commit resources to Cassandra and support events like NoSQL East.
NoSQL conference announcements and related discussion can be found on the Google discussion group.


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[Click on thumbnails for larger images and additional informaiton]
As I noted in my discussion of Dante Gabriel Rossetti as an illustrator, he revolutionized the art of illustration. He had a comparable impact on styles of binding, creating a series of idiosyncratic designs which set new standards in the application of fine art, and, as versions of the Aestheticism of the sixties and seventies, were a tangible influence on the Art Nouveau book-covers of the latter part of the century, such as that for Dowson's Poems. This contribution to the art of the material book is well-known, and commentators such as Grieve and Fredeman have explored its complexities. My aim here, rather more modestly, is to provide an outline of what constitutes the Rossettian binding.
Left: Binding for Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Moxon, 1859. Right two: Binding for Tennyson's The Holy Grail. Strahan, 1870.
The startling originality of his work is best understood by comparing it to the dominant styles of the mid nineteenth century. In the period from 1855 to the mid seventies trade bindings were typified by two approaches. Serious works, such as original poetry, were usually issued in a plain cloth, sometimes with an embossed or recessed surface. A good example is the lime-green casing for Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Published by Moxon in 1859, this binding is entirely functional; no designer, as such, was involved, and the same set-up was used for a number of similar volumes. For Christmas gift-books, on the other hand, the emphasis was on flamboyance and visual splendour. Usually issued in brightly coloured or polychromatic cloth with gilt overlays, these books were produced by designers such as Leighton and Warren. Presented as ostentatious presents, they embody a characteristically Victorian excess.
Five bindings designed by D. G. Rossetti or attributed to him — from left to right: Thomas Hake's Tales and Parables (1872), Rossetti's Poems (1870), Maria Rossetti's A Shadow of Dante (1872), Swinburne's Songs before Sunrise (1865), and Shelley's Poetical Works (1872, attributed).
Rossetti's approach mediates between these two positions. His designs are never excessively plain in the manner of the utilitarian binding, but, on the other hand, they seem positively restrained compared to the over-working of Leighton and his contemporaries. They do use gilt, but the cloth is always of a sombre hue — typically olive-green or a subdued ochre. What marks them out, however, is the artist's sensitive approach to the text. In each case, the bindings act in a carefully conceived relationship to the contents within. Sometimes this is a matter of visual or tonal anticipation that prepares the viewer for the author's themes and ideas; and sometimes the binding is a sort of contrast, existing in contrapuntal opposition to the material contained inside its boards.
In the design for Hake's Tales and Parables (1872) Rossetti provides an emblematic representation of the text's central concern with the cycle of life. Hake's focus shifts from 'Mother and Child' (1) to 'Old Mortality' (35), and the gilt illustration on the front cover anticipates this earthly cycle in the form of a startling juxtaposition between a cradle and a spade. Life's polarities, symbolized in the text by the alternation between deadly nightshade and lilies of the valley, is similarly registered on the upper board.
Rossetti's luxurious design for Hake is a prime example of his contribution to the emerging discourse of Art Nouveau. In complete contrast are his compositions for his own Poems of 1870 and for his sister's Goblin Market (1862). In each of these Rossetti abandons the figurative, presenting instead an austere geometrical simplicity which wilfully misleads the reader's eye. Both imply that the contents will be ascetic, severe, pared to the bone, rational. In the binding for Goblin Market, especially, the stark geometry of straight lines and tiny roundels suggests that the poem will be some sort of bloodless abstraction. When we turn the page, however, we are confronted firstly by Rossetti's pictorial frontispiece of Laura voluptuously bursting out of her dress, and then by Christina's sensual tale of lush descriptions and sexual innuendo. These qualities are thrown into relief, in other words, by the misdirections inscribed in the binding. Using the very material qualities of the book's appearance, Rossetti amplifies his sister's effects. He also foregrounds the sensory intensity of his own collection of poems, encasing them in a delicate sheen of gilt roundels which suggests a high degree of Aesthetic sensitivity, but does nothing to prepare the reader/viewer for the sensuous and emotional excesses of 'The Blessed Damozel' (text), or the angst of his sonnets.
Rossetti's bindings play their part in a calculated approach that brings together material appearance, illustrations, and texts to form an expressive whole. More than any other of his generation, Rossetti conceived his bindings as an important field of registration, a visual scheme designed to expand the range of meanings inscribed in the books' interiors.
Fredeman, William E. '"Woodman Spare That Block": Published and Unpublished Illustrations and Book Designs of Dante Gabriel Rossetti'. The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies n.s. 5 (Spring 1996): 7-41.
Greive, A. 'Rossetti's Applied Art Designs, 2: Book Bindings'.The Burlington Magazine 115:839 (February 1973): 79-84.
Hake, Thomas. Tales and Parables.London: Chapman & Hall, 1872.
Rossetti, Christina. Goblin Market. London: Macmillan, 1862.
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel. Poems. London: Ellis & Elvey, 1870.
Rossetti, Maria Francesca. A Shadow of Dante. London: Rivingtons, 1872.
Tennyson, Alfred. Idylls of the King. London: Moxon, 1859.
Further Reading
Ball, Douglas. Victorian Publishers' Bindings. London: The Library Association,1985.
Barber, Giles. 'Rossetti, Ricketts, and Some English Publishers' Bindings of the Nineties'. The Library5th Series 25 (1970): 314-30.
King Edmund. Victorian Decorated trade Bindings, 1830-1880. London: The British Library & Oak Knoll Press, 2003.
Taylor, John Russell. The Art Nouveau Book in Britain. London: Methuen, 1966; revd. ed., 1980.
Last modified 13 August 2010


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Brookville Roadster
If you are intending to build a 1928 to 1931 Model A Ford hot rod or even a vintage reproduction car, I would suggest that you check out the products Brookville Roadster has to offer. You can check out their web site at: http://brookvilleroadster.com/ . Brookville Roadster has several steel Model A Ford bodies available.
1928 – 29 Model A Ford Roadster body (this is what I am using in my project)
1928 – 29 Model A Ford Roadster pick-up body
1930 – 31 Model A Ford Roadster body
1930 – 31 Model A Ford Roadster pick-up body
1929 – 31 Model A Ford pick-up beds.
They also have a steel 1932 Ford Roadster and 1932 Ford 3 window coupe bodies. I have seen these at the Detroit Autorama and they are very nice.
Once you start working with a new re-production steel body, you start to wonder why you would even consider purchasing an original vintage body that is rusted out with parts missing complete with complementary bullet holes. Sure you might find a deal and a body that is great, but those deals are getting hard to find. To consider cutting up a perfectly good vintage vehicle and turn it into a hot rod just is not right in so many ways. For example, today, you can purchase a 1928 – 29 Model A Ford roadster body from Brookville Roadsters for $6500. Block sand it and you are ready to go.
I suppose you could find cheaper fibre glass bodies but that is risky. I have seen many cheap fibre glass bodies and some as much as what Brookville Roadster would charge. Why is buying a fibre glass body risky? Some manufactures of fibre glass bodies have different standards or you might say they very poor quality control in the product. For example, a simple thing like adding too much harder or catalyst to the resin will cause the product to heat up to fast and loose its shape. If not enough harder or catalyst is used, the resin will not set up properly. I have even seen fibre glass bodies and fenders loose their shape after they have been taken off the moulds. Another problem would be with the laying of the fibre matt and how it is rolled out with the resin. If the matt is not rolled out properly and saturated with the resin there will be air pockets. This will make the body weak. Another big problem would have to do with the consistency in thickest of the body and parts. Quality fibre glass bodies do not have these problems, and most often will even have a metal sub-frame to support and add strength to the body
Personally, I would rather deal with a steel body for a hot rod. I have been considering building a line of cheap rat rods, and for those I would consider a low end fibre glass body. It can be easily rough up and the complete project would not cost too much. Now-a-days, folks are loosing the ability and interest in building things. A line of economical rat rods or hot rods, however you want to call them would give interested individuals an easy opportunity to get into the hobby. I will need to give this more thought. For now I will stay with the 1928 – 29 Ford Roadster and come up with version 2 of my C4 Corvette chassis for the hot rod.
I must say working with new steel for a hot rod project is fantastic. The 1929 Ford Roadster body built by Brookville Roadsters that I found had the doors, dash parts, and trunk lid missing. The roadster body was stored in a barn for several years and had all of the good part stolen. Having only paid $1200 for the body might have been a good deal. Now I needed to purchase the trunk lid, doors, and dash. These were not cheap parts. Not only that, they would have to be shipped to me. Luckily, Brookville Roadsters didn't mind shipping everything to me in the mail.
Importing parts to Canada can be expensive if it is not done correctly. Many of the standard carriers, like UPS, FedEx, and etc… charge insane amounts of money for so called brokerage fees. This fee they claim is what it cost them to send the tax money to the Canadian Government. What a pile of crock!!! I find the post office just charges me only the taxes, and a tiny handling amount. So much cheaper then UPS or FedEx!! So up really up with the other carriers?
At the same time, I ordered the 1932 Ford radiator shell and grille insert, and all of the windshield parts. Once I received everything, I must say the excitement level soared for me. The project was starting to look like a real hot rod. My overall goal was to build a cheap hot rod, but at the same time have a reasonably polished look to it. So far everything is on track and my expectations in the project cost are bang on. NO OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES! This has not been an easy task to meet. Every single part on the wrecked 1986 Corvette Indy Pace car convertible was sold. Not one single item was thrown out. Not bad, re-cycling at its best. All of the un-needed Corvette parts went all over the world. I was very amazed at this process.
Tags: 1928 - 29 Ford Roadster body, 1930 - 31 Ford Roadster body, 1932 Ford Coupe, 1932 Ford Roadster Body, Brookville Roadster, Fibre Glass hot rod bodies


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Israeli forces launched a major manhunt in southern Gaza on Friday after it was reported that Hamas successfully exploited a humanitarian ceasefire to abduct an IDF soldier.
On Friday morning, both Israel and Hamas agreed to enter a 72-hour ceasefire accompanied by long-term truce talks in Cairo. But just two hours later, Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel resumed, and the Israeli army returned fire and resumed ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
Around the same time in the southern border town of Rafah, Hamas gunmen and a suicide bomber emerged from a tunnel behind Israeli lines and killed two soldiers. In the ensuing battle, it is believed an Israeli soldier was nabbed and forced into the terrorists' tunnel.
Hamas confirmed that it had abducted an Israeli soldier, but claimed that it did so prior to the start of the ceasefire.
Either way, if the reports are true, rescuing this soldier is likely to become the new overriding focus of Israel's war against the Gaza terrorist infrastructure.
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The School District of Lee County and The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools are committed to the success of each student. We have established ambitious goals to assist our students in becoming college and career ready.
While many say they don't want their money going to "brick and mortar" this is actually where you can do the most good. A donation to this fund will ensure that our students and teachers have a safe, modern, and functional learning environment – which is key to helping them reach their highest personal potential.
The path to a great education begins early. Research indicates children who receive a high quality early childhood education are 50% less likely to be placed in special education, have a 34% lower rate of being retained, and are more likely to graduate from high school. Please help us expand our Pre-K programs and community partnerships to get our youngest students off to the best start possible.
Time is a critical factor in a child's education. Unlike the old factory model of years past, learning time must become more personalized. Please help us expand the number of before and after school programs, extended year programs that allow students to get extra help, and added enrichment in subjects like science, mathematics, and art we currently offer.
Educational research clearly indicates that the teacher makes the greatest difference in a child's education. Please help us attract, support, and retain great teachers by donating to our Grow Our Own Program.
If you just can't make up your mind, choose our "Meet the Need" category and we will apply your donation to the Vision 2020 area of greatest need.
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|Derbyshire, U.K.
|High School:
|Political science
|Residential College:
2012-13: Ranked No. 3 nationally … Won the team's Most Valuable Player award for the second consecutive season … Unanimously selected to the First Team All-Ivy, her third selection to the team … Went 3-1 in the Ramsay Division at the CSA Individual Championships … Played at No. 1 all year … Amassed a 14-3 overall record … Fell only to No. 1 Amanda Sobhy of Harvard and No. 2 Kanzy El Defrawy of Trinity … Tomlinson played El Defrawy three times, finishing 1-2 against the freshman … 6-1 in Ivy League play … Went 3-2 in Yale's losses, tied with Shihui Mao for the best mark on the team.
2011-12: Ranked No. 2 nationally … Won the team's Most Valuable Player award … First Team All-American … Unanimously selected to the First Team All-Ivy … Made it to the Championship of the Ramsay Division at the CSA Individual Championships … Went 17-3 … 13-2 in the regular season, 4-1 at the CSA Individual Championships … Played at No. 1 … All three losses came to Harvard's Amanda Sobhy, who is yet to lose a single game in college … Lost only six games to players other than Sobhy … Began season with 11-match win streak … Won her match in the semifinal of the Howe Cup as Yale won 7-2 … Broke a 4-4 tie with a victory to clinch the match against Penn in Yale's closest non-Harvard match of the season.
2010-11: Ranked No. 1 in the nation… Won the CSA Individual Championships without dropping a single game… First team All-American… All-Ivy… Ivy League Rookie of the Year… After losing first match, went on twelve-match winning streak, then won five more matches in the CSA Individual Championships… 12-1 overall record… 6-1 Ivy… Played as high as No. 1… Finished season playing at No. 2… Won the team award for Most Improved Player… Won her match in the national championship match against Harvard.
Before Yale: Played on English National team at U15, U17, and U19 levels… Entered college ranked as No. 1 U19 player in England.


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right before the new year, last year, we took a trip to san francisco, then rang in 2012 with our new pup, beta. she's taught me a lot about patience, and myself. i really can't believe today marks 1 full year of us being together!
we took a quick trip to vegas one weekend to see friends. bloody marys, fireball slot machines, and sleepless nights in casinos. burning in desert heat for photos, and drives out to see old friends.
we stayed w/ my sister + brother in-law for a weekend in palm desert. relaxed out by the pool, played board games till early morning and sat out talking for hours about life. i miss that. on the way home we did a quick drive through joshua tree! my first time there, and i hope not my last. something about the desert just draws me in. i could most definitely live there forever without any complaints. that must sound crazy, because most people hate the heat. i love it.
santa monica pier. roller coaster rides w/ my sister. french fries and sugary drinks out on the wooden tables. sunglasses and photobooth strips. laughs and seagulls.
by far, my favorite trip of 2012 was the grand canyon. we drove out to arizona and stayed in flagstaff, then made our way to the meteor crater in the morning and the grand canyon the next day. photos will never ever capture just how amazing, magical, and beautiful it really is. i'm so glad we decided to go, even though i was ridiculously sick w/ the flu. we even made it to sedona to watch the solar eclipse!
beach days w/ ron.
hawai'i in july for my birthday, to visit my family (finally!), and to shoot a wedding. i miss my family so much, so it was a bittersweet goodbye, knowing i probably won't be back for a while.
nearing the end of summer. ice cream on the boardwalk. camelias. polaroids. fun stuff.
ron was asked to speak at a conference in paris for his work and asked if i wanted to come along. those who know me, know i have a phobia of planes and flying! this trip happened to be falling on ron's birthday though, and the thought of him spending his birthday alone in paris just didn't feel right. so i agreed to go. i still don't know how i got myself to board that plane. i spent most of my time w/ my sister (she flew up for a few days), then i explored alone. lots of strolls through beautiful gardens, one of the workers even recommend a Makita Bhx2500ca Review to keep my garden clean, lunches in little cafes, room service and photos. dear paris, i can't wait till we meet again.
the last days of los angeles. just writing that made me feel a little choked up. i miss it, and it's only been a month. i don't normally feel this way about leaving a place, but LA has a piece of my heart. living there has taught me so much and has helped me grow into such a stronger, more confident, loving, trusting, and forgiving person. and for that, i will always have so much love for it.
and now i'm here, in london. soaking up the soggy sunshine that every other day brings through the skylights. through the little cracks in tall shiny buildings. through the bridges and beautiful parks and historic, amazing sites that sit just about everywhere in this city. i'm ready for you, and 2013. cheers! and happy new year, everyone :)


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I'm a rusty 3.5 looking to improve my game. Hoping for a regular partner to play at this same time every week.
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Hey Leann, I'm trying to put a group together at the 3.0-3.5 level over at kealing in east Austin. You're welcome to join that. Let me know if you'd be interested and I can give you more info.
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It's nine o'clock on a Monday morning, and I'm standing in line outside the Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida, waiting to see some baseball. Today's game is between the New York Yankees and last year's World Series champs, the Philadelphia Phillies. I'm not usually the sort of guy to care one way or the other about sports, but there's something about spring training that brings out the kid in me. I'm so giddy that I don't even mind that I've spent the last 20 minutes listening to a guy from Long Island talk about his bobblehead collection.
"The Mets actually have the nerve to give out a bobblehead on the last day of spring training," Eric Marinbach tells me. "So I have to stay for that. I extended my vacation just for that! Just for a Daniel Murphy bobblehead. It's nuts. I had to re-arrange my whole rental-car schedule, my whole flight schedule. But it's Daniel Murphy, so what can I do?"
Marinbach estimates that he has more than 900 bobbleheads, which is kinda creepy, especially when he tells me that most of his collection is on display in his bedroom and he sometimes wakes up to "1,800 eyes staring at me." But in a weird way, it's also endearing. A grown man doesn't collect hundreds of bulbous-headed doll versions of his favorite players without being really enthusiastic about baseball.
Marinbach isn't the only crazy-obsessive fan here in Clearwater. Although the game doesn't officially start for another four hours, and the stadium doesn't even open its doors till 10:30, there are already a few hundred fans waiting outside. They're dressed in the colors (and sometimes the full uniforms) of their favorite teams, and most are staring intensely at the front gate, like greyhounds waiting to burst out of their cage.
There have been conflicting reports on how Major League Baseball is faring in the recession. Depending on whom you believe, attendance at spring training this year was either down as much as 20 percent or up by 2 percent. But if the crowd waiting to storm the gates at Bright House is any indication, team owners shouldn't lose any sleep. Baseball, like McDonald's and chocolate, seems to be recession-proof; it's comfort food for the brain.
The more intriguing question isn't whether baseball will survive—it's pretty obvious that it will—but whether the sport still matters.
I'll be honest: I'm what you'd call a "casual fan" of baseball. I've watched a few games on TV, and I've been to Wrigley Field and a few other stadiums (although admittedly mostly for the beer). I'm vaguely familiar with the rules of the game, and I could identify some of the more popular players in a lineup. As a teenager, I once had a poster of George Brett on my wall, but that's just because I thought his haircut was cool. If Pete Rose walked into a room, I would say, "Hey, isn't that Pete Rose? What the hell is he doing here?" But that's the extent of my knowledge and interest. I didn't come to spring training because I love baseball. I couldn't care less about baseball. As far as I'm concerned, baseball is just something men turn to when they're afraid of having actual conversations or being called homosexuals. I came to spring training because I want some reassurance about the economy.
Our country, as you may have heard, is tits-deep in a pretty frightening recession. It's so bad that some have compared it to the Big D—you know, the Great Depression. Our current president, God bless him, has already demonstrated shades of F.D.R., promising to lead us through dark times with nothing more than an unwavering confidence and belief in our potential. But who's going to buoy our national spirit when we get down in the recession dumps? Well, if the Great Depression is our best barometer, it's probably going to be baseball.
Back in the 1930s, when the U.S. economy was fodder for John Steinbeck novels, baseball was experiencing a golden age. Players like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio became icons, even among people who wouldn't go to a ball game on a dare. The sport essentially became our national panacea. The world may have seemed hopeless and scary, but baseball offered the huddled masses a chance to escape and lose themselves in the exploits of larger-than-life sports heroes. So I have to wonder, will our national pastime once again become the diversion a rattled and recession-weary country needs? Will modern baseball shed its controversial reputation, ruined by years of steroids, scandals, and bloated salaries, and resume its rightful place as a proud American tradition, right up there with mom and apple pie?
There are plenty of fans in Clearwater willing to explain why the answer is a resounding "no." Their reasons aren't surprising: the players, even the good ones, are overpaid, egomaniacal babies who are probably all lying about steroids. Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez, baseball's latest black sheep, is a favorite target of derision among fans looking for proof that baseball is a corrupt institution, somewhere on the ethical scale between A.I.G. and the Mafia.
"Why is this cancer even on our team?" roars Marinbach, who, despite his fondness for Mets left fielder Daniel Murphy, owes allegiance to the Yankees.
Jeff Crupper, a 43-year-old Phillies fan from Houston, thinks the problem is with glorifying athletes at all. "They're just human beings who happen to be good at throwing and running and hitting," he tells me. "They're put up on a pedestal, but they're just regular guys. If any of this stuff happened to you or me, it wouldn't be news. But because it happened to A-Rod, suddenly it's on the front page."
It's a sweet sentiment, even if it's not entirely accurate. If you or I shtupped Madonna or got paid $275 million after cheating our way to semi-glory, it'd probably warrant at least a mention on "Page Six."
My favorite of the diehard fans waiting outside Bright House is Tony Bacon, a 72-year-old New Jersey native who now lives in Florida and rarely misses a Phillies spring-training game. He tells me about his staggering collection of baseball memorabilia, which takes up most of the third floor in his home and includes a vintage schedule for the Philadelphia Quakers from 1887.
Like pretty much everyone with an opinion about baseball, he thinks the sport has lost its way. He tells me about Leon "Goose" Goslin, one of baseball's legends, who played "only for love of the game" and died penniless, his friends forced to take donations just to bury him. "It's just sad," he says. "It's all about the money these days, and it's taking the fun out of baseball."
There's apparently enough fun left to keep the throngs who came to the ballpark today entertained. As valid as many of their arguments are, it's difficult to take them seriously. An angry Yankees fanatic screaming about how his team is on thin ice with him doesn't hold much water, especially when said fan makes these ultimatums while wearing every single piece of Yankees apparel sold at the stadium gift shop.
A military unit arrives by chopper to hand-deliver a ball for use in the Legends of Baseball Game, at Bright House Field, in Clearwater, Florida. By Eric Spitznagel.
The gates swing open and the crowd files inside, coming just shy of a shoving match. When we cross the threshold into baseball territory, the smiles get noticeably larger, and all talk of steroids and scandals is forgotten. Walking into a baseball stadium reminds me of what some people have told me about heroin. It's a burst of euphoria that you wish would never stop. I'm feeling so emotional right now that I want to start singing that Paul Simon song about baseball and cougars. "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Whoo-whoo-whoo!"
I've only been in the Phillies locker room for 10 minutes and I've already made a rookie mistake. Baseball players are accustomed to answering questions about batting averages and game predictions and statistical minutiae. They're not quite so comfortable, however, answering philosophical questions about baseball's role as a calming distraction during economic slumps. Asking an athlete whether his sport "still has the potential to inspire" is the equivalent of asking a hedge-fund trader to write a poem about sunsets.
Most of them look at me with wide eyes, somewhere between panic and bafflement. Their answers run the gamut from "Oh man, I got nothing" to "Can I get a day or two to think about it?" Occasionally one of them takes a stab at saying something meaningful. Carlos Carrasco, a pitching prospect for the Phillies, says something about how "people used to dress up in suits and ties when they went to the ball game." Eric Bruntlett, who scored the winning run during last year's World Series, mentions how times are tough and baseball can be an escape from everyday life. But you knew that.
Over in the Yankees locker room, Mark Teixeira tells me about his mother, diagnosed with breast cancer when he was just a teenager. "She told me that one of the things that got her through her cancer was coming to watch me play games," he says. "I've always thought that if a woman with cancer who's fighting for her life can get help from baseball, then somebody fighting for a paycheck should be able to do the same."
"You might say that baseball is just as good as chemotherapy," I say with a wry smile.
"No doubt, no doubt," he says, nodding enthusiastically. "It is, it totally is!"
I assume he's speaking figuratively, but who knows? Maybe he really does believe in the magic of baseball. I almost feel guilty for being such a cynical bastard, but then I remember that Teixeira just signed with the Yankees for a whopping $180 million. For that kind of money, the least he can do is zap out a few tumors.
To be honest, I don't really care if players think baseball can inspire America. What I want to know is: how do they plan to inspire America? What Depression-era baseball icon will they be emulating this season? Will they be like Babe Ruth, a lovable drunk who promises home runs to sick children and then bangs their mothers later? Or like Lou Gehrig, coming down with an incurable disease and then giving a heart-wrenching farewell speech that leaves the entire nation choked up?
Not that I want any of them to get terminally ill but … well, I don't know if they've noticed, but our economy's in the crapper and everybody's in a pretty hostile mood. Nothing turns a recession frown upside down like a famous athlete getting struck down in his prime and still having the courage to call himself "the luckiest man on the face of the Earth" without sounding sarcastic or flipping anybody the bird. It's a comforting reminder that at least somebody else is having a shittier year than you are. Unfortunately, that's a question none of the playes I meet is willing to answer.
I had no better luck the previous day, when I'd gone to a "Legends of Baseball" game at Bright House, looking for a few old-timers who seemed wise and talkative. The lineup included Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, Doug Creek, and a bunch of other guys I'd never heard of. I ended up talking to Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, a former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants who looks eerily like Wilford Brimley.
"We think if people come out to the ballpark, they'll have a great time and we hope that does it for them," Perry tells me. "We got a long ways to go to an [economic] recovery, don't we? It's gonna take a few extra innings to get this thing right."
I don't know quite what to make of that. Personally, if my house went into foreclosure and my life savings disappeared and some old dude in a baseball cap told me, "It's gonna take a few extra innings to get this thing right," I would punch him in the throat.
My interview with Perry ended rather quickly. Because of his reputation for spitballs (his 1974 autobiography was called Me and the Spitter), I made some lame joke about how he's technically the first ballplayer guilty of "juicing." He stared at me with an icy glare, like I'd just suggested taking a bubble bath with his granddaughter, until I bowed my head and slinked away.
The "Legends" game itself turned out to be far more illuminating than anything the aging players could tell me. Just before the first pitch, a helicopter landed on the field and a group of six soldiers dressed in camouflage jumped out to hand-deliver a ball. The crowd erupted in cheers, but I had to wonder: why send a platoon to do a job that could've just as easily been accomplished by a prepubescent boy?
The game itself was hardly a display of stellar athletics. The batters swung like housewives trying to protect themselves from intruders, and foul balls rained from the sky like hail. They fell into the stands, the walkways, sometimes even ricocheting off the bathroom doors. "Heads up!" people yelled, which I guess was code for "Run toward that projectile as fast as you can!" Adults and children alike lunged for the balls, willingly throwing themselves in harm's way for the chance for a free souvenir. Somebody actually bodychecked me to get in the path of a foul ball, which bounced off his chest with a reverberating thud and, judging from his stunned expression, momentarily stopped his heart.
After six or so innings—old players tire easily—I went back to my hotel and watched Team U.S.A. get their asses handed to them by Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic semifinals. In the span of just a few hours, I witnessed a pretty accurate portrait of our national identity in the 21st century. The Japanese are outdistancing us in skill and strategy, but we've got bigger guns. We might not be able to throw or hit a ball with any accuracy, but we'll have it transported to the stadium, at great expense, in the biggest goddamn chopper you've ever seen.
You hear that thorax-rattling roar? That tells you America's in town, and it's time to play some fucking baseball!
I'm standing on the Bright House field with Yankee manager Joe Girardi, embroiled in a back-and-forth that's as disorienting for him as it is for me. It goes like this: I ask unanswerable questions, and he responds as best he can.
"I love this game too much to lose the idea that it's just a game," he says, contemplating the field below us. "The great thing about the game is that there's always something that happens in the game to put the game in perspective, and you think, Wow, it's still a game."
I have no idea what I just asked, but it must've been a doozy.
I mostly just nod at whatever Girardi says and try to pretend that it isn't in any way surreal for me to be standing on a baseball field during batting practice while 9,000-plus people stare in my general direction. I feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience, and Girardi's words cease to be intelligible. He sounds like one of those parents in a Peanuts cartoon.
"Technology changes," Girardi continues. "And I think that's the biggest reason our world changes. But the game, in and of itself, is still played with a ball, and you still gotta get 27 outs, so it's pretty much the same."
"So true," I say, as if I have any idea what he's talking about. Girardi spits, his third time during our interview, and I watch the thick stream of muddy saliva come dangerously close to hitting my shoes. I want him to actually spit on me, because I suspect that would signify something. I seem to remember reading somewhere that baseball players spit on each other as a sign of respect. Or am I thinking of Dune?
The beat writers, some of whom are watching me from the dugout, were kind enough to give me a few insider tips before my interview. "Never call a manager 'Coach,'" they tell me. "They hate that. Just use their first name." The writers also inform me that a locker room is called a "clubhouse," which I find hysterical. It sounds so fancy and exclusive, like a place where jackets are required and martinis are served, not a dank back room filled with half-naked guys and the fetid aroma of sweat and testicles.
The baseball locker room—sorry, clubhouse—is not a safe haven for sports writers. It's basically high school with a paycheck. I try to blend in with the beat writers, who (like me) tend to be pale and bearded and shaped like Weebles. We clutch our notebooks and watch the athletes get dressed and hope they'll look our way so we can scurry over and ask our carefully prepared questions.
We're two very different social cliques; the players talk about yesterday's N.C.A.A. tournament, and the writers discuss whether "The Macarena" was as badass as "The Curly Shuffle." They're the cool kids, comfortable in their own skin and acutely aware of their popularity, and we're the fat kids from band class, trying not to make eye contact and clutching notes from our mothers giving us permission not to shower with the other boys.
Sports writers may not be prime physical specimens, but they are considerably more adept at answering vague questions about the recession and baseball.
"Especially in this climate, people tend to be more interested in baseball than anything else," explains Peter Abraham, a Yankee beat writer for The Journal News (in suburban New York) and author of the popular LoHud Yankees Blog. "I hate to say it, but it's true. We can track the most-read stories on the *Journal'*s Web site, and on one day the lead story was about how [Yankee player] Nick Swisher bruised his leg and had to miss a day. The next-most-popular story was about Obama promising a stimulus package. Obama came second to Swisher and his bruised leg. And this is Westchester County, where the people have a pretty good stake in the economy."
"The one great thing about baseball is that anything can happen," says Mark Feinsand, a beat writer for the New York Daily News. "You can go to the park any night expecting nothing to be happening, and then somebody throws a no-hitter or hits four home runs. A team can be out of the race in August, but there's always the possibility that somebody is gonna do something amazing and change everything in one night. Every game is another chance for a fresh start."
There's something intrinsically comforting in a baseball metaphor. The old underdog stories are cringe-worthy when your life is on track, but if things get shitty enough in Mudville, it's nice to dwell on baseball fantasies, where you could be a laughing stock one day and tomorrow do one little thing perfectly and suddenly everybody loves you again and you're being called a hero and sacks of money are brought to you in wheelbarrows.
It's easy enough for writers to talk about baseball in the abstract, dissecting what it means to the larger culture and the faceless, embittered masses. But when the question gets turned on them—"What does baseball mean to you?"—it inevitably comes back to just one thing: Daddy.
"Baseball was always something I liked to do with my dad," Feinsand tells me. "When I was 13 or 14, we took a trip down the coast of California to visit every baseball stadium in the state. And I'm looking forward to taking my son to the park and teaching him how to keep score. Baseball, to me, is just ingrained as a father-son activity."
That is how every conversation I have in the Yankees dugout eventually ends. We begin with earnest discussions of baseball's relevance in an era of steroids and mass media, but inevitably it evolves into misty-eyed tales of how we never felt closer to our dads than during those three hours at the ballpark, where conversations about R.B.I.'s and M.V.P.'s passed for intimacy. Even Girardi, who seems flummoxed by most of my questions, is lucid and charming on the topic of fathers and baseball.
"I was really close to my father," Girardi tells me. "I used to ride in the car with him and we'd listen to the Cubs games on the radio. I played a ton of baseball as a kid, and he came to every game he could. And he used to take us to about five games a year at Wrigley Field. Baseball has always been a passion of mine, and I think it's because it's always been a passion of my father's."
"Hold me," I murmur.
"I mean, hold on, I think we're almost out of time. Thanks again and have a great game today, Coa … er, Joe."
The rain starts coming down just an hour before first pitch, and that's when the Bright House Field disc jockey starts blaring "It's Raining Men" over the stadium's loudspeakers. As if recoiling from the Weather Girls' strident strains, the clouds soon part and the Phillies and the Yankees take the field.
You get a lot of time to think when you're watching a baseball game. Even in the best ones, not a lot happens. The majority of any given game involves players discussing what to do next, and then slowly getting ready to do whatever it is they've agreed on. Watching baseball is like looking for a friend who played an extra in a big Hollywood movie. Glance down at your popcorn just once and you risk missing everything.
So I do what I guess you're supposed to do at the ballpark. I let my mind wander. I think about how ironic it is that I'm reporting on baseball and the recession in Clearwater, Florida, the very same city where Keith Richards dreamt up the riff for "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," which could be a recession anthem. I think about how F.D.R. once compared the New Deal to baseball, and how President Obama bumped the World Series for an election infomercial, and whether that means anything. I think about how A. J. Burnett, the Yankees' new starting pitcher, used to wear nipple rings, and wonder if they were visible through his uniform. I think about how a front-row seat at the new Yankee Stadium costs a little over $2,500, and how for that price you could probably get Keith Richards to come to your home and hum the riff to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" while giving you a foot massage.
The game is low-scoring, which isn't a shocker. Nothing here, or at any game during spring training, actually counts. They might as well be playing frisbee golf, for all it signifies. There are a few hits and the crowd is appreciative, howling like they think the players care either way. Spring training is perfect for people who want their baseball without any drama or importance or stress. If your team does well, hooray! If they make fools of themselves, meh, whatever. Where's the hot-dog guy?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once compared the New Deal to baseball. Courtesy of the Condé Nast Archive.
At some point, Ryan Howard, the Phillies first baseman, does something that looks kinda impressive. He tries to catch a ball while keeping a foot on the base, and his body contorts into a position that's reminiscent of a downward-facing-dog yoga pose. The crowd cheers, even though he didn't technically get the runner out. I suppose that means they're applauding him for a good effort. Or for stretching. Either way, it doesn't matter. This crowd is looking for an excuse to whoop it up, and Howard's bendy spine is as good a reason as any.
The people who say there are no more heroes in baseball are wrong. Today's "stars" may not have the scrappy determination of a Pepper Martin, or the prophetic powers of a Dizzy Dean, or the non-steroid-induced body mass of a Hank Greenberg. They may never have a candy bar or a neuromuscular disease named after them, or have their baseball skills described, as Babe Ruth once was by a biographer, as "surging erectile power." But that doesn't mean they aren't heroes in their own unconventional way.
A gaggle of fans are gathered near the Phillies dugout, shouting at the players on the field to try to get their attention. When their requests for autographs go unanswered—mostly because the players are trying to play baseball—a teenage kid grows impatient and throws a ball toward Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth. And then, to make his intentions obvious, he throws a Sharpie pen, which nearly clocks Werth in the head. Werth looks down at the ball and pen and sighs deeply. And then he picks them up and carries them back over to the stands, where he dutifully signs the ball for the hysterical teenager.
Werth is a hero, not because of his athletic ability but because he had the forbearance not to stab this kid in the jugular repeatedly with his own Sharpie. When baseball fans act like monkeys throwing shit, it takes a big man to smile and pretend to be grateful.
Every generation gets the heroes it deserves. The 1930s needed Lou Gehrig, with his nobility in the face of great misfortune. In the 'aughts, we apparently just need somebody who's going to tolerate our obnoxious sense of entitlement, and not wince when we start hollering, "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"
In the bottom of the sixth, a booming voice announces that today's game is a sellout, with 9,394 fans in attendance. And then, as if God is making some not-so-subtle commentary, it starts to rain again. Hard. Monsoon hard. The playing, which has already been sloppy at best, becomes downright farcical. Players are slipping on the slick grass, and Phillie Raul Ibanez loses his grip on a wet bat, sending it flying toward right field and nearly shish-kebabbing Mark Teixeira.
Some in the crowd run for shelter, but most don't. There's a guy standing next to me, dressed from head to toe in Yankees apparel, and although he's getting soaked—he looks like a wet superhero—he doesn't move. "What a fucking lousy day for a ballgame," he says with a snarl, and then he takes a long swig from his beer. He stares out at the field, his eyes unblinking and an expression of fierce determination on his face.
Forget the underdog stories. This is baseball's true recession metaphor, and it has nothing to do with the players. This guy standing in the rain—refusing to leave because he paid for a game and, goddammit, he's gonna get his game—he represents the true American spirit.
I just can't decide if it's a good thing.
It either says something about out stubborn optimism and willingness to stand our ground and weather the storm. Or it means that we're a bunch of spoiled jackasses who don't know when the party's over and are too stupid or arrogant to get out of the rain. Maybe it's a little bit of both and we just can't tell the difference anymore.
I stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow American, watching our beers rapidly fill with rainwater, muttering to the darkening clouds, "One more inning, one more inning, one more inning … "
Eric Spitznagel is a regular contributor to VF.com. He has written for Playboy, Esquire, Rolling Stone, The Believer, and others.


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Brass with Threads on Both Ends
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Sept. 6, 2011
Wildfires Consuming Bastrop State Park
BASTROP, Texas – Despite earlier optimism, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department firefighters and other personnel were still facing a fire threat to historic structures at Bastrop State Park today.
According to TPWD incident commander Robert Crossman, all but about 100 acres of the 6,000-acre park have been blackened by fire, but firefighters have so far been able to save most of the Civilian Conservation Corps-constructed structures on the park, with two possible exceptions – two CCC observation structures believed to have been damaged.
"We still have critical fire behavior threatening the CCC cabins," Crossman said. He said firefighters, assisted by newly arrived federal firefighters, dealt with two flare-ups at the park overnight, one at midnight and the other at 5 a.m. today. Firefighters are using heavy equipment, much of it provided by donors who responded to a TPWD call for assistance, and water trucks to build fire breaks and saturate the ground around the historic structures. Among those providing immediate assistance include: Holt Cat, Comanche Ranch, Jimmy Evans Construction, Ranger Excavating and Al Niece Equipment.
"The outpouring of support from these companies has been nothing short of extraordinary," said Carter Smith, TPWD executive director. "Without hesitation, they sent over heavy equipment, machinery and operators, and water tanks to aid our firefighters on site. These resources have been indispensible."
TPWD has about 75-plus personnel responding to wildfires in the Bastrop area, including state park firefighters, parks police and game wardens.
The fire has damaged the regional state park headquarters on State Highway 71, about four miles from the park. In addition, several TPWD employees lost their homes in Bastrop County. Some TPWD vehicles and other equipment were also destroyed.
State parks officials are still planning to make an all-out effort to save historic structures on the park, many of which were constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
"Much of Bastrop State Park has been burned and our firefighters have once again shown their mettle with incredible effort to save the historic district of this National Historic Landmark," said State Parks Director Brent Leisure, whose home and that of Buescher State Park superintendent Cullen Sartor were among those destroyed by the fire. "Countless homes have been saved. Despite the outstanding effort, this fire has outstripped our capabilities to protect all things."
While Bastrop State Park and nearby Buescher State Park are closed, all other area parks remain open, including nearby Palmetto State Park and Monument Hill State Historic Site.
Park officials are also concerned about threats to the endangered Houston toad. The 124,000-acre Lost Pines area of Bastrop County, which includes the state park, is home to the largest known population of the small, reclusive amphibians in the U.S.
Leisure said the toad has already been stressed by the ongoing drought and loss of habitat caused by wildfires will likely impact the toad further.
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