I might need some of my astrology expert friends to weigh in here. We began with a World Series where both teams had new managers, and one of them had never been a manager before at any level, if I understand correctly. This is unusual. Then we had a WS game end on an interference call for the first time
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Read moreBefore the season began, I fully expected my Red Sox to finish last in the AL East. (I wasn’t the only one.) I figured Ellsbury and Petey would be solid, but past that there were so very many discouraging things to consider: New manager: there was reason to be hopeful about John Farrell, but still, new guy at the helm
Read moreI apologize in advance because this is going to ramble. And be wonky. If it helps, please know that it all makes sense in my head. Our professional development program at work – yeah, my new job has an actual interest in professional development – has us doing some reading each week and informally discussing the insights. This week we
Read moreMaybe I’m biased, but I’ve always felt like holiday brews should be bold, audacious even. Laurelwood’s seasonal pumpkin strikes a lovely note body-wise – it’s a nicely balanced amber that’s very “drinkable” (although I hate that term).
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Solo and with Velvet Underground, Reed changed the rock landscape forever When the iconic Velvet Underground & Nico album was released in 1967 I was all of six years old, so VU was never a part of my lived experience. I never became a fan of their music, exactly, although my inner rock historian grew into a deep respect for their place
Read moreTasty coppery ale with crisp pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg high notes and rich malt body.
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Our social media activities would benefit from a dose of critical thinking. A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on. – Terry Pratchett I had an exchange with my sister earlier about something she had shared on Facebook. If you haven’t seen it, it’s the one alleging that 11 US states now have
Read moreEmbarrassing defeat in government shutdown and debt ceiling face-off reveals cracks in GOP coalition. While I have retired from political blogging, there is some value in pausing, from time to time, to remind our readers about past discussions of particular relevance to the events of the moment. One such opportunity presented itself this morning, as John “The Straight Talkin’ Mavericky
Read moreHave you ever wondered what it must be like being a dog?
Read morePeriodically I like to surf through YouTube for interesting song mashups, which are as pure a postmodern art form as exists. Today was one of those days, so here, for your listening pleasure, are some things that go together like peanut butter and basketball. Up first, Ozzy vs. a-ha. Folks, this just ain’t right.
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Government shutdown, debt crisis reveal how much GOP has in common with other sociopaths… Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil. Involuntary dilation of the iris? I believe Philip K. Dick had it right in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Technology had, in that not-so-distant future, created androids that were
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Hi folks. I wanted to take a moment to tell you about some changes here at S&R that we think you might like. The first one you probably already noticed: we’ve tweaked our design a bit. We did so for a big reason. When we made our last design update we didn’t really understand how it was going to affect
Read moreRoss Douthat misses the point: the institution of the church is no longer central to the practice of religion It wasn’t long after I entered my doctoral program some 20 years ago that professors and fellow students alike noticed in me a certain proclivity for polemic and outright cage-rattling. My instinctive tendency to leaven insight with attitude was on display
Read moreProgressive reformer can’t be what the College of Cardinals expected… I don’t traditionally care for popes. The Roman Catholic Church has this really long history of promoting oppression and corruption and ignorance, and there’s the whole pedophilia thing, too. I’m hard pressed to think of an organization that done more raw damage in the entirety of recorded history, and that
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lullaby pit 