Wild Strawberries

This is what a classic masterpiece should be. In Wild Strawberries a doctor/professor emeritus takes a road trip to receive an award. The trip takes him, and his daughter-in-law, along a route that lets him review his past. Through dreams, Ingmar Bergman lets us view the events that made this man what he is today. Along the way he meets people that spark more introspective wanderings. Why is he such a cold-hearted man who keeps his distance from everyone, and yet some regard him as a life-saving saint?

Bergman tells an interesting tale, and tells it well. Events from one part of the movie reflect and reinforce events elswhere. Even mirroring a young lady from his youth with a young woman on the road helps make this a powerful story.

I’ll give this one a 10 out of 10.

Losing Our Country – New York Times

Losing Our Country – New York Times

As Paul Krugman writes”Since 1980 in particular, U.S. government policies have consistently favored the wealthy at the expense of working families – and under the current administration, that favoritism has become extreme and relentless. From tax cuts that favor the rich to bankruptcy “reform” that punishes the unlucky, almost every domestic policy seems intended to accelerate our march back to the robber baron era.”

Well, duh. These robber baron wanna-bes are the ones that are paying for these congressmen that are passing these laws. People. WAKE UP, stop voting for these idiots that don’t deliver on their promises; the ones that are screwing you slowly.

Don’t let the propagandists lead you down the rosy path to perdition. This country worked because the general consensus was that we should promote the general economic welfare of society as a whole. As various people learned to game the system and promote their own welfare over society’s, we made corrections. Of late, it would seem that the system gamers are promoted as heroes, as good folk, to be emulated. All the while, the general economic structure that made this country great is dragged into the mud.

I do hope that the country will make the next correction soon. Unfortunately, it looks like the lawmakers have gotten caught up in the “gaming the system” syndrome and the people don’t seem pre-disposed to get rid of them, so it may be a while.

Week 9 Numbers

What to make of it all. HR below LA; Pts dropping. Runs second worst in league; Pts dropping. RBI below LA; margin is very narrow right now. Average was second best; that’s good. SB above average; still holding on there.

Wins did good; 5 in 8 starts. Saves working better than expected, although the Chicago relief crew had a rough week. Even though Ks are above league average, they still aren’t keeping up withthe other big number guys and I am losing serious ground here. ERA is better than average and WHIP is worse than average but I don’t seem to be losing ground in these categories.

HR – 7 ; LA – 7.9 : PTS 8
R – 24 ; LA – 35.5 : PTS 9
RBI – 34 ; LA – 35.5 : PTS 10
AVG – 0.295 ; LAA – 0.276 : PTS 8
SB – 6 ; LA – 4.2 : PTS 9
W – 5 ; LA – 3.1 : PTS 10
S – 2 ; LA – 1.5 : PTS 3
K – 39 ; LA – 36.4 : PTS 6
ERA – 3.59 ; LAA – 4.52 : PTS 8
WHIP – 1.46 ; LAA – 1.36 : PTS 7

Week 9

Lo, how the mighty have fallen. As I foresaw, My HR and Runs numbers are dropping. I’m not sure why RBI is still at the top but that shouldn’t last much longer. My strikeout count has dropped rapidly as well. At least the average has stopped dropping and has settled down for a while. I need more At-Bats from my hitters.

Team report for Rocky Coloradans
Owned by Jack Heneghan

Hitters Team HR R RBI AVG SB

————————–
Chris Widger CWS C1 AS: 0 0 0 .143 0
WK: 0 0 0 .143 0
FS: 2 8 5 .327 0
————————–
Josh Bard Cle C2 FS-AS: 1 2 6 .191 0
WK: 0 0 0 .000 0
————————–
Tino Martinez NYY 1B FS-AS: 12 29 30 .238 1
WK: 0 1 0 .105 0
————————–
Joe Crede CWS 3B FS-AS: 7 22 21 .225 1
WK: 3 4 4 .187 1
————————–
Joe McEwing KC CI AS: 0 0 1 .333 0
WK: 0 0 1 .571 0
FS: 0 4 2 .302 3
————————–
Juan Uribe CWS 2B FS-AS: 4 17 24 .240 1
WK: 0 1 2 .200 0
————————–
Derek Jeter NYY SS FS-AS: 5 36 21 .289 8
WK: 0 0 1 .125 0
————————–
Julio Lugo TB MI FS-AS: 2 25 27 .276 14
WK: 0 2 2 .360 2
————————–
Manny Ramirez Bos OF1 FS-AS: 11 31 43 .255 1
WK: 0 3 3 .269 0
————————–
Gary Sheffield NYY OF2 FS-AS: 10 32 38 .315 6
WK: 1 1 2 .211 0
————————–
Aaron Rowand CWS OF3 FS-AS: 4 30 24 .289 8
WK: 1 4 9 .476 2
————————–
Torii Hunter Min OF4 FS-AS: 7 28 34 .267 14
WK: 1 3 8 .480 1
————————–
Shannon Stewart Min OF5 FS-AS: 8 35 25 .287 3
WK: 0 2 1 .190 0
————————–
Frank Catalanotto Tor DH FS-AS: 2 17 13 .318 0
WK: 1 3 1 .556 0

TOTALS 80 341 339 .2714 58
OFF PTS 8.0 9.0 10.0 8.0 9.0

————————–
*Javy Lopez Bal C1 AS: 0 0 0 .000 0
————————–
*Ken Harvey KC CI AS: 1 2 4 .333 0
————————–
Travis Lee TB CI AS: 0 10 9 .299 1

Pitchers Team W SV SO ERA WHIP
—————————-
Randy Johnson NYY P1 FS-AS: 5 0 65 3.92 1.218
WK: 0 0 7 3.38 1.250
—————————-
Bartolo Colon LAA P2 FS-AS: 7 0 65 3.10 1.180
WK: 1 0 11 7.50 1.833
—————————-
Todd Williams Bal P3 AS: 0 0 0 9.00 2.000
WK: 0 0 0 9.00 2.000
FS: 4 0 17 3.80 1.183
—————————-
Kenny Rogers Tex P4 FS-AS: 8 0 33 1.62 1.140
WK: 2 0 9 1.29 0.786
—————————-
Kyle Lohse Min P5 FS-AS: 5 0 24 4.25 1.345
WK: 1 0 2 4.50 1.833
—————————-
Gil Meche Sea P6 FS-AS: 5 0 33 4.57 1.385
WK: 1 0 1 0.00 1.050
—————————-
Dustin Hermanson CWS P7 AS: 0 11 9 1.56 1.212
WK: 0 2 1 6.75 2.500
FS: 0 13 16 1.08 1.120
—————————-
Damaso Marte CWS P8 FS-AS: 3 2 25 2.42 1.567
WK: 0 0 3 5.40 2.100
—————————-
Gustavo Chacin Tor P9 FS-AS: 5 0 37 3.36 1.388
WK: 0 0 5 3.52 1.696

TOTALS 39 13 341 3.33 1.283
OFF PTS 10.0 3.0 6.0 8.0 7.0

—————————-
*Kevin Millwood Cle P3 AS: 0 0 0 0.00 0.000
—————————-
Justin Speier Tor P7 AS: 0 0 4 7.04 1.435

Week 8 Numbers

The hitters seem to be below the league average this week. Pitchers did good with 6 wins in 9 starts.

HR – 8 ; LA – 8.5 : PTS 9
R – 28 ; LA – 34.3 : PTS 10
RBI – 26 ; LA – 31.9 : PTS 10
AVG – 0.262 ; LAA – 0.267 : PTS 7
SB – 2 ; LA – 4.2 : PTS 9
W – 6 ; LA – 3.1 : PTS 10
S – 1 ; LA – 2.4 : PTS 3
K – 26 ; LA – 31.2 : PTS 7.5
ERA – 2.40 ; LAA – 3.65 : PTS 8
WHIP – 1.23 ; LAA – 1.30 : PTS 7

Week 8

As the numbers show, it was not a good week for the Rocky One. The Asterisk’s show that I lost a couple more Players. Catalanotto was out all week on bereavement but he’s back now. At least the hitters finished the week hitting .419 on Sunday.
Team report for Rocky Coloradans
Owned by Jack Heneghan

Hitters Team HR R RBI AVG SB

————————–
*Javy Lopez Bal C1 FS-AS: 7 25 22 .278 0
WK: 0 0 0 1.00 0
————————–
Josh Bard Cle C2 FS-AS: 1 2 6 .209 0
WK: 0 0 0 .250 0
————————–
Tino Martinez NYY 1B FS-AS: 12 28 30 .258 1
WK: 0 1 0 .231 0
————————–
Joe Crede CWS 3B FS-AS: 4 18 17 .229 0
WK: 0 1 1 .118 0
————————–
Joe McEwing KC CI AS: 0 0 0 .000 0
WK: 0 0 0 .000 0
FS: 0 4 1 .268 3
————————–
Juan Uribe CWS 2B FS-AS: 4 16 22 .245 1
WK: 0 0 2 .235 0
————————–
Derek Jeter NYY SS FS-AS: 5 36 20 .303 8
WK: 1 4 2 .273 1
————————–
Julio Lugo TB MI FS-AS: 2 23 25 .265 12
WK: 0 2 5 .190 0
————————–
Manny Ramirez Bos OF1 FS-AS: 11 28 40 .253 1
WK: 0 3 2 .320 0
————————–
Gary Sheffield NYY OF2 FS-AS: 9 31 36 .326 6
WK: 3 5 7 .421 0
————————–
Aaron Rowand CWS OF3 FS-AS: 3 26 15 .267 6
WK: 0 3 0 .250 0
————————–
Torii Hunter Min OF4 FS-AS: 6 25 26 .237 13
WK: 1 4 3 .267 1
————————–
Shannon Stewart Min OF5 FS-AS: 8 33 24 .297 3
WK: 3 5 4 .290 0
————————–
#Frank Catalanotto Tor DH FS-AS: 1 14 12 .281 0
WK: 0 0 0 .000 0

TOTALS 73 317 305 .2687 52
OFF PTS 9.0 10.0 10.0 7.0 9.0

————————–
*Ken Harvey KC CI AS: 1 2 4 .333 0
————————–
Travis Lee TB CI AS: 0 10 9 .299 1

Pitchers Team W SV SO ERA WHIP
—————————-
Randy Johnson NYY P1 FS-AS: 5 0 58 3.99 1.214
WK: 1 0 3 4.50 2.167
—————————-
Bartolo Colon LAA P2 FS-AS: 6 0 54 2.75 1.128
WK: 1 0 12 3.07 1.023
—————————-
*Kevin Millwood Cle P3 FS-AS: 1 0 46 3.20 1.288
WK: 0 0 1 1.93 1.071
—————————-
Kenny Rogers Tex P4 FS-AS: 6 0 24 1.69 1.212
WK: 1 0 1 1.29 1.000
—————————-
Kyle Lohse Min P5 FS-AS: 4 0 22 4.22 1.286
WK: 1 0 4 1.88 1.047
—————————-
Gil Meche Sea P6 FS-AS: 4 0 32 5.09 1.423
WK: 0 0 2 6.23 2.077
—————————-
Dustin Hermanson CWS P7 AS: 0 9 8 0.00 0.825
WK: 0 1 0 0.00 0.000
FS: 0 11 15 0.00 0.857
—————————-
Damaso Marte CWS P8 FS-AS: 3 2 22 1.89 1.474
WK: 1 0 1 0.00 0.429
—————————-
Gustavo Chacin Tor P9 FS-AS: 5 0 32 3.34 1.348
WK: 1 0 2 0.00 1.500

TOTALS 34 11 302 3.30 1.262
OFF PTS 10.0 3.0 7.5 8.0 7.0

—————————-
Justin Speier Tor P7 AS: 0 0 4 7.04 1.435

Kiddy Grade

Kiddy Grade is set in the far space-faring future. Lumiere and Eclair are agents of the ‘Galactic Organization of Trade and Tarriffs’. Their boss tasks them to apprehend people who are disrupting the free flow of commerce throughout the galaxy. Don’t look here for economic lessons. Eclair is a 16-year-old with some super powers and Lumiere is several years younger and she communes with computers. At least those are the ages given in the bio in the Extras section. They certainly don’t act those ages and their boss is heard to make a cryptic remark that she doesn’t want to lose them again, leading one to believe there is a lot more to these young women than meets the eye. There is a subplot going on about an observer who usually accompanies the girls on their missions. He acts in a very shady and suspicious manner at times and we aren’t sure where his loyalties lie or what his agenda is.

I will give this a 6/10 for now. I like the production values and the intrigue going on. The characters are a bit stock but they seem to have some individuality. So, I will be keeping this one near the top of my rental queue for a while.

Geobreeders

I have no idea what the title refers to. This looks like it was the failed start of a series. 3 episodes to tell a tale and then it is finished. But I checked at Anime Info and evidently there is a continuation the following year( 1999)

So what is it all about? The Kagura Security Agency takes on difficult cases to delete/kill/erase/eliminate Phantom Cats, often right under the noses of the Welfare Department’s well-armed Anti-Phantom Cat Squad.

What are Phantom Cats? Who knows. They can appear a regular feline domesticus street cats one moment and as teenage kids the next. They can walk through walls and reach into solid objects (like bodies) . Oh, and they can control/influence computers.

How do you get rid of a Phantom Cat? With computer-operated magical talismans, of course. Or special high caliber bullets, whichever fits the plot at the moment.

Oh, yes, Phantom Cats don’t like water, which is why a boatload of them are driting off the Japanese coast trying to smuggle in an atomic bomb. Then something weird happens with another plot going on in the background and the ship blows up.

And Phantom cats lose their clothes when they transform from human to cat so when they go back to human they are naked. But this only works if the cat is transforming into a buxom young woman. Boys and children keep their clothes when they transform, even they don’t appear to be wearing clothing when they are in cat form.

One of the main plot-lines here is that the Kagura Agency’s pet Phantom Cat is catnapped causing the Agency to work without pay and disrupt the atomic bomb plot without finding their own cat.

If this sort of inanity is your idea of good fun, please go ahead and watch. The artwork and coloring seem to be of good quality. The characters are retreads of some very strange series.

I will be magnanimous and give this a 3/10.

79.5

Daily notes on your players from rototimes.com: 05.26 Indians manager Eric Wedge indicated that Kevin Millwood could go on the disabled list after suffering a “considerable” groin injury, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Millwood will undergo an MRI exam today.

I was wondering why Millwood left the game last night after only 4 2/3 innnings. He had only given up 1 run. You would think that, by now, baseball would have figured out that the groin is very susceptible to injury and that more effort would be made to avoid these injuries, like stretching and strengthening exercises.

At least the BA went back up to 6 points, with a .286 performance last night.

The Thoughts and Luminations of Jack Heneghan