Uncategorized — Page 86

→ February 16, 2019
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 2/16/19.

No ESPN+ content this week, but my entire prospect ranking package is now up for subscribers, including the top 100, farm system rankings, and in-depth rankings for all 30 teams, with at least 15 prospects ranked in each system. Before my vacation I wrote up the J.T. Realmuto trade. I also held a Klawchat this Thursday and another back on February 6th.

My most recent board game review for Paste covered the light, fun engine-builder Gizmos, by the designer of Bärenpark and Imhotep, a very family-friendly title with no text to worry about that takes the engine-builder concept and boils it down to a simpler game that plays in well under an hour.

I also resumed my email newsletter, so feel free to sign up for that if you just can’t get enough Klaw in your life.

And now, the links…

Longreads first: Jessica Luther and Dan Solomon have a massive piece up at Deadspin looking at how Baylor football became a haven for sexual assault, building on their great work over the last few years at Texas Monthly.
The Verge interviews Sci-Hub founder Alexandra Elbakyan, who has made millions of scientific papers available ‘free’ online, violating copyrights to do so – but should scientific research not just be copyrighted, but held behind prohibitive paywalls that may slow the progress of other research by denying people access? Should copyright laws, which predate the idea of research journals and existed to protect the rights of publishers and content creators, treat scientific papers the way they treat novels or films?
SkepticalRaptor has a long review of a bad book from last fall that claims the HPV vaccine isn’t safe. The book’s authors aren’t scientists, but two lawyers and a homemaker, so nobody with a science background, and it shows in the text.
Amanita phalloides, the deadly mushroom colloquially known as the death-cap, is spreading across North America.
My friends Tim Grierson and Will Leitch ranked every film that won the Oscar for Best Picture. I’ve probably seen only 20 or so of these, but I at least agree with their praise of numbers 1, 3, 6, 12, and 17.
Why don’t we have a vaccine for streptococcus A, the aftereffects of which, including rheumatic heart disease and sepsis, kill half a million people a year? It’s a combination of a regulatory screwup, successful medical interventions in developed countries, and the low profit margins of vaccines.
In a Guardian longread, Tom Yarwood writes about surviving being sexually molested by a music teacher when he was a child. He’s specific about the nature of the abuse, in case you might find this triggering.
The BBC looks at how Helsinki ended street homelessness through progressive policies designed to get such people off the streets into stable housing, even if they have substance-abuse problems.
Laura Snapes writes in the Guardian that the Ryan Adams allegations are just the start in a field where such “beta male misogyny” is rampant.
Measles is on the rise in Europe thanks to anti-vaxxers, and our state laws here need to keep up by eliminating all non-medical exemptions for schoolchildren.
Facebook’s role in spreading vaccine-denial bullshit has come under fire in two directions – the rise of closed groups that freely share false information against vaccines, and now anti-vaxxer groups using Facebook ad targeting to serve ads to pregnant women scaring them away from vaccines.
Some unvaccinated teens are now going around their parents to get vaccinated or doing so as soon as they’re of age. I’d drive any unvaccinated kid to the doctor if they had the legal side sorted out to get their shots.
There’s a measles outbreak in the Philippines, including the capital city of Manila, with nearly 13 million people in its metropolitan area.
Now some especially dumbshit parents are refusing the vitamin K shot for newborns. It’s essential to help newborns’ blood clot properly, so look for a bunch of babies bleeding to death needlessly because their parents are morons and the law lets them stay that way.
Climate change may melt most Himalayan glaciers in the next 80 years, which, I don’t know, sounds like a national emergency to me.
Scientific American looks at proposed policies to combat rising temperatures in Phoenix, although I notice water conservation, an outright failure of the city and state governments there, isn’t mentioned.
Math geeks may enjoy this paper (PDF) on the Sheldon Conjecture, based on an episode of the Big Bang Theory where that character says 73 is the perfect prime number – and it’s possible that the writers were more right than they knew.
Harvard professor Jill Abramson stands accused of plagiarism as well as inaccurate quotes in her latest book, and she seems to think she’s above the fray. I’ve emailed multiple deans at Harvard to ask for any sign they’re even aware of these problems – she teaches seminars on writing there, for crying out loud – but so far I’ve had no response.
Instagram “influencer” Rachel Hollis has also been accused of plagiarizing quotes on her social media account.
Bernie 2020? Not so fast, if you look at his history of embracing pseudoscience.
Julian Edelman’s title as Super Bowl MVP exposes our ‘selective morality’ on performance-enhancing drugs in sports, Hunter Felt writes for the Guardian.
Oh, we back on that again? New York’s City Council is considering a ban on foie gras, based again on a misunderstanding of how the delicacy is actually produced. I’m not a huge fan myself, at least not commensurate with its reputation among foodies, but this is a needless regulation, and shouldn’t be near the top of anyone’s priority list of rules on food production and sale.
I shouldn’t laugh, but I did: “Investors” in a cryptocurrency exchange might be out $137 million because the founder died and no one knows his passwords.
Jane Coaston wrote in Vox about conservative pundits’ bad faith arguments around Gov. Ralph Northam while also arguing that the governor, who appeared in blackface in a yearbook photo from his time in graduate school, should resign. I feel like we should just turn Virginia off and turn it back on again.
George Will argues in the Washington Post that Democrats can bail out Trump by nominating someone too liberal/progressive in 2020. I don’t agree, but I think Will makes a cogent argument about the center (without, I think, considering voters on the far left who might have abstained in 2016).
A great podcast from the BBC explains why we don’t care about the war in Yemen, which we support by funding our ‘friends’ the Saudis.
Two unrolled Twitter threads worth reading: Harvard professor Juliette Kayam depantsed Rep. Dan Crenshaw over border security and the wall.
Writer Anand Giridharadas was invited to fill in as guest speaker at a dinner, only to have the ‘liberal’ crowd defend the Koch brothers. The dinner took place at The Players, a private social club founded by Edwin Booth, which has also been accused of labor law violations (detailed within).
Board games! Floodgate Games’ Bad Maps is now available for pre-order.
The board game Evolution is now out as an app for iOS, Android, and Steam. I have a review coming for Ars Technica, but I’ll report here that it’s pretty great – it looks fantastic and I think it’s easy to read, learn, and play on a tablet screen.
Villainous: Wicked to the Core, is a new standalone expansion to last year’s hit game Villainous, and will be available exclusively through Target starting on March 3rd, with pre-orders through that link. I’ve played it five times already, and it’s more of the same but with better rules explaining each villain character’s unique powers and victory conditions. This comes with three new characters – the Evil Queen, Doctor Facilier, and Hades (no James Woods, thank goodness) – and may be combined any way you like with the six villains from the original game.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: board game news, board games, climate change, frauds, links, math, metoo, oscars, vaccines, virginia

→ February 15, 2019
→ By keith

Top 25 restaurants in Philly for 2019.

I’ve wanted to put this post together for ages, but wanted also to be sure I’d tried enough restaurants in the city for my list to make some sense. I think I’ve done that now, although there’s always more to try, and living a bit outside the city I’m at a slight disadvantage.

1. High Street on Market (Old City). My favorite spot in the city for breakfast or lunch, and they do dinner as well, although it’s the one meal I haven’t eaten there. The menus are built around their amazing, old-world breads; the breakfast Forager sandwich is to die for, and they make the best roast pork sandwich in the city. Their sister restaurant, Fork, is also on the list.

2. Suraya (Fishtown). Recently named the #1 restaurant in the city by Philly magazine, this all-day Lebanese restaurant, with a café/market in front and fine-ish dining in back, does Levantine cooking right, with classic preparations of the mezze (small starters, like hummus and muhammara) served with piping-hot pitas. There are a few non-traditional items here too, but go with a gang and stuff yourselves with a bunch of mezze.

3. Vedge (Midtown Village). A vegan restaurant to satisfy almost any omnivore; they do incredible things with vegetables so that the dishes are satisfying and visually stunning, and so you won’t think about the absence of meat. I still can’t believe the sunchoke bisque amuse bouche didn’t have dairy in it, and the toasted marshmallows in my dessert were indistinguishable from those made with egg whites.

4. Bud & Marilyn’s (Midtown Village). Marcie Tunney’s best-rated restaurant does American comfort food with upscale twists, including various fried chicken dishes and outstanding salads – I’ve recreated a fennel, brussels sprout, and green apple salad I had there in December 2017 a dozen times at home.

5. Cheu (Fishtown). I’d say “best ramen in Philly” but I haven’t had it many places. They do make great ramen, and have great cocktails. It’s near Suraya; parking is a pain on that whole stretch.

6. Hungry Pigeon (Queen Village). My birthday dinner last year was here, and we ordered a strange assortment of dishes, but everything was excellent (well, my daughter might disagree on the asparagus). They use fresh pasta from the Little Noodle Pasta Company, a spinoff of the now-closed Ela in the same neighborhood. The dessert, a ‘diner-style’ coconut cream cake, was four large portions by our standards.

7. Fork (Old City). High Street’s sister and neighbor does superb fine dining in a quieter, more upscale atmosphere, with a great wine/cocktail list.

8. Abe Fisher (Rittenhouse). I haven’t been to Zahav, Michael Solomonov’s flagship restaurant, but I’ve been here, which is still on the high end but more affordable and I think a bit more accessible. The menu is inspired by but not limited to Jewish-American cooking traditions. The gougères they serve instead of a bread basket are superb, and my daughter will tell you it’s the best Shirley Temple in the city.

9. Osteria (Fairmount). Osteria was a Marc Vetri restaurant, included in the sale of most of Vetri’s portfolio to Urban Outfitters, then purchased last year by the owners of Sampan and Double Knot. Most of their signature dishes, including house-made pastas and pizzas, are still on the menu, including the chicken liver rigatoni that my daughter once described as “it sounds gross, but it’s really good.” (She was 8.)

10. Royal Boucherie (Old City). Top Chef winner Nicholas Elmi’s second restaurant in Philly – I haven’t been to Laurel – is an “American brasserie” with a lot of French influence on the menu and a very lively bar. Their desserts are superb and they have one of the best lists of amari (potable bitters) I’ve come across.

11. Pizzeria Vetri (Arts District & Rittenhouse). I’ve only been to the original location, going many, many times since it first opened, and they do a small list of Neapolitan pizza options very well, as long as their signature rotolo, pizza dough rolled like a buche de noel with mortadella, cheese, and pistachios; as well as light, house-made soft-serve ice cream. Service here has always been excellent for a fast-casual spot.

12. Brigantessa (East Passyunk). Pizzas and house-made pastas from southern Italian peasant food traditions. They did have an issue last fall that resulted in the firing of their chef de cuisine, later than they should have, over anti-Semitic comments and mistreatment of staff.

13. Le Virtu (East Passyunk). Abruzzese cuisine – that’s east central Italy – which contains many dishes and ingredients you’d recognize as “Italian” but sometimes in different combinations. It’s a region I associate especially with mushrooms and that was indeed the pasta dish that most stood out to me when I ate there last month.

14. V Street (Rittenhouse). Vedge’s ‘vegan street food’ offshoot; the fried tofu taco with two slaws manages to deliver the satisfying crunch of a fish taco and make me forget I’m eating tofu, a food that I’ll consume but would rarely describe as memorable. I wish they were open more hours.

15. Royal Izakaya (Queen Village). An izakaya that takes its sake and shochu very seriously, with an intimidating menu of small plates to go along with the booze.

16. Amis (Washington Square). Another former Vetri outpost, amis focuses on the cuisines of Rome and the surrounding Lazio region in a quirky converted warehouse-like setting. When I went, I had two specials, both involving duck, that were superb.

17. Pizzeria Stella (Society Hill). A Stephen Starr outpost very close to I-95 and the waterfront, Stella does traditional Neapolitan-style pizzas with a few pasta and starter options and home-made gelato for dessert.

18. Barbuzzo (Midtown Village). Marcie Tunney’s flagship, still known for great pasta dishes (the ricotta gnocchi are superb), good pizzas, seasonal vegetable dishes, and that salted caramel budino.

19. Stock (Fishtown/Rittenhouse). A BYOB with two locations – I’ve only been to Fishtown – that serves the best banh mi I’ve had here, as well as southeast Asian soups and cold noodle dishes.

20. Dinic’s (Reading Terminal Market). This is where you go if you want a very classic Philly roast pork sandwich (with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe, please). They do other sandwiches I don’t eat, but why bother?

21. Poi Dog (Rittenhouse). If you want poke, this is your place. They have spam musubi too if that’s how you roll.

22. Dizengoff (Rittenhouse Square). Solomonov’s hummus outpost, with shakshuka on the weekends, will often have a line out the door. His Federal Donuts is across the street but I don’t care for their donuts and haven’t tried their Korean fried chicken.

23. Lolita (Midtown Village). Marcie Tunney’s upscale Mexican spot has great margaritas, tacos, taquizas, enchiladas, and a few fun sides like elote and maduros.

24. El Vez (Midtown Village). Stephen Starr’s straightforward Mexican spot with a large menu of guacamole options and very good if predictable American-Mexican food.

25. Farmicia (Old City). Farm-to-table food with a wide menu that I find great if you don’t know if your fellow diners are adventurous eaters, since they offer plenty of accessible options plus some quirky dishes for the more daring eaters.

I still haven’t made it to Zahav; I’ve twice had reservations and had to cancel, once for work (still mad), once because of illness. I’ve been to Double Knot, but only for happy hour, which is a different menu than dinner but still very good. I haven’t been to Laurel, Friday Saturday Sunday, Noord eetcafe, or Serpico. I can’t eat at South Philly Barbacoa, and I’m not paying what Vetri Cucina is asking.

Places I’ve tried and didn’t like: Vernick Food & Drink (they sent out a dish that was actually burned, enough that I sent it back, which I almost never do), Res Ipsa (ordered a hot sandwich that arrived cold), Sate Kampar (spicy food, but not flavorful at all).

Finally, for coffee, Re-Animator is my favorite roaster in Philly, with Elixr second. I love the Menagerie coffee shop across the street from Farmicia, where they use Dogwood espresso and a few third-wave roasters from around the country for pourovers.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: breakfast, italian cuisine, japanese cuisine, lebanese cuisine, mexican cuisine, pasta, philadelphia, pizza, ramen, rankings, vegan, vegetarian

→ February 14, 2019
→ By keith

Klawchat 2/14/19.

Keith Law: Klawchat. How can you run when you know?

Dante: Thoughts on the Nola extension? It seems this type of deal is becoming less common, but maybe they come back en vogue with FA now panning out well recently for even the best players.
Keith Law: Definitely less common – I think I said that on the BBTN podcast a few weeks ago? – so I’m glad to see it. I can’t imagine low-revenue teams have decided they’re willing to ride players out through arbitration without even trying to buy out a year or two of free agency. This current market slump is not sustainable, not with industry revenues where they are.

Aaron C.: As an African-American fan and father of a 15 y/o ballplayer, I feel this whole Kyler Murray thing quietly highlights how poorly MLB markets its sport and creates inclusive support structures for players of color. I cringe at the reported pitch the team of MLB officials made to Murray last month. Did they hand him one of those silly “Whole Squad Ready” spring training hoodies? Ugh.
Keith Law: Also, maybe pay minor leaguers a living wage. Maybe it doesn’t matter for Murray, who 1) will make a shit-ton more in the NFL draft and 2) may just prefer football, period, but it will matter to a lot of other players with that choice going forward.

Scott: How important is positional value in your prospect rankings? If Nico Hoerner was projected by the Cubs only as a second baseman instead of a SS, would he have been rated higher?
Keith Law: I have read this three times and I’m still not sure I understand it. I don’t care if the Cubs think Hoerner is a SS; my rankings are based on where I think Hoerner will play, and I don’t think he stays at shortstop. Plus moving from SS to 2B reduces a player’s value.

Richard: The Jays have collected a slew of prospects who seem more like depth guys or second-division regulars than real GUYS. Do any – like Kevin smith or Ronny Brito – have a chance to be more than that?
Keith Law: No, I don’t think so. Their prospects with a chance to be GUYS are the teenagers in short-season – the Orelvis, Hiraldo, Pardinho, Groshans group.

Aaron C.: I don’t mean to sneeze at the draft pick slot dollars, but the BEST thing the A’s could offer Kyler Murray to entice him to play professional baseball is…a chance to play amateur football. Has baseball lost the two-sport athlete for good?
Keith Law: Oh, sorry, meant to hit this earlier too. Again, a living wage for minor leaguers is the first answer. Baseball should also use the NFL’s refusal to admit its connection to CTE against the sport.

DH: social media fix: take away anonymity. If the gatekeepers verify their users (and people could turn off unverified users on their feed) it adds accountability. And that would remove most of the vitriol, and all of the bots and false identities.
Keith Law: I tend to agree – Twitter without anonymity would be a much safer, less irritating place – but we see it through the lens of a country with free speech and a free press (for now), whereas users in authoritarian countries who might wish to use the site to connect with other dissenters would have to stop using it.

Eric Dongenhagen: Any chance you kept up with Fangraph’s prospect week this week? I know in the past you say you don’t look at other lists but that you do respect the guys over there.
Keith Law: I looked at their top 100-something, but I’d also talked to Eric a few times in the previous two weeks so I knew some of the rankings already (and he knew mine before they were posted).

Dan: Harper this, Machado that.. what about Keuchel? First off, is his remaining unsigned about the same market factors arguably driving the situations for the other two? Or is it more about his performance? Very low strikeout rate for today’s game. Second, where does he likely end up? Back in Houston seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it?
Keith Law: I wonder if there are concerns about his healthy history/prognosis.

guren: Are there any particular ingredients that will automatically cause you to order the dish when you see them on a menu? For me, it’s oysters, soft-shell crabs, and cilantro.
Keith Law: Duck. Beets (especially with goat cheese). House-made pasta, especially gnocchi. I would say 90% of the time if there’s a dark chocolate dessert on a menu, that’s what I’m ordering.

2020: Do you think Wander Franco’s the #1 prospect in baseball this time next year?
Keith Law: It’s the most likely outcome.

Mike: Not a question – Used your search bar here to see if you’d ever had a Ryan Adams song on a music update list in light of the recent NYT article. Ended up reading your entire “Best of the 2000’s” music list, which led me back to an album I hadn’t heard in over a decade – Doves – The Last Broadcast. I completely forgot how incredible this album is, and am already on a second spin through, perplexed how this hasn’t been a constant in my life. It will be now. Thanks for the reminder!
Keith Law: They’ve apparently reunited, too, although I’ll reserve judgment until i hear some music. Jimi’s solo album was a big disappointment.

Fuzzy Dunlop: Are you planning on going to see Witt in person at all? If you see him during the HS season, make sure it’s when he’s playing the team I coach so I can get the Twenty One Pilots playlist ready for you.
Keith Law: Yes, preferably before spring training, just to check him off the list. Texas HS teams start Tuesday.

Scott: Will you be visiting any spring training sites this year?
Keith Law: Yes, every year.

Mike: You give a lot of current music updates here, and I was curious if you ever uncover older stuff you either missed or misjudged initially? Do any stick out in your memory? Would love to see a list of songs/artists you missed, similar to your list of players you were wrong on. Thanks!
Keith Law: Yes, happens often, usually I hear something I don’t know, assume it’s new, and then find out it’s from some point in time when I wasn’t that into music. I didn’t hear the Electric Six’s debut album Fire until maybe ten years after it came out. Just missed it.

Mark: Have you ever considered doing a top 100 movie list in the same style as your book list ?
Keith Law: I tried to do one a few years ago, but realized I was missing so many ‘classic’ movies that the list seemed inherently incomplete.

Bob Loblaw: What are your thoughts on the Twins extending Polanco for 5 years in the wake of his 80 game PED suspension?
Keith Law: Are those connected?

Mark: Do you ever make Lasagna ? If so ,do you use a bechamel sauce ?
Keith Law: I don’t make it. I really haven’t eaten that style of pasta al forno – with tomato sauce and a lot of dairy, usually ricotta – in 15-20 years. It’s too heavy for me.

Doug: I’ve read in a few placed Nimmo played over his head last year but his plate skills look elite. Leading off for a decent Mets team is 100/15/15 with a 380 obp reasonable?
Keith Law: I don’t know what the slash line is. He can post a .380-.400 OBP vs RHP for sure.

Aaron C.: Any high school or collegiate talent in San Diego County worth keeping an eye on/watching play this spring?
Keith Law: Spencer Jones at La Costa Canyon is the best name I know out your way – same HS as Mickey Moniak. Don’t hold that against him.

Bob Uecker: What kind of performance do you think Keston Hiura can offer in his rookie season? A LeMahieu-esque line a reasonable projection for now?
Keith Law: God I hope he’s better than that.

TjF: James Kaprielian – officially another John Savage overuse casualty?
Keith Law: Although Savage overworked a lot of pitchers, I don’t recall him specifically overusing Kaprielian.

Chris: I’m curious if you read the interview in the Athletic with McGuirk and AA. It came across as remarkably condescending towards Braves fans. It’s almost like they’re upset the team won the division last year because it has increased pressure on them to keep it up when Liberty has debt to pay.
Keith Law: I haven’t read it.

Mark: I know you are a proponent of Lou Whitaker for the Hall. Do you feel Bobby Grich has a strong case as well ?
Keith Law: Very much so.

Rick: Apologies if you’ve covered this before, thoughts on the Reds off-season? As a fan I’m glad to seeing them going for it, even though the rational part of me says it’s too soon/they didn’t get enough to make the post-season. It doesn’t feel like they significantly impacted their farm system, and they could always flip a few of their acquisitions mid-season if the season goes haywire?
Keith Law: If the season goes haywire, it likely means their acquisitions flopped, which is the most likely outcome.

Ken: Guy whose music you like turns out to be (at minimum) manipulative jerk. Toss his albums and don’t look back?
Keith Law: Little easier for me since I only liked a few of his songs – it would be hard for me to say that to someone who, say, had a particular memory or emotional connection with certain tracks.

Rodney: Does Joe McCarthy have a future with the Rays? He seems ready to contribute at the major league level, assuming he stays healthy. Will he find a spot with the depth of young talent that team has?
Keith Law: Yes. Has to keep his back healthy and stop punching walls.

Nick: You’re an Econ guy, what’s the book say on what the Athletics do with Kyler Murray? If he plays football you lose a top 10 pick for no compensation but there has to be a limit on how much to increase their offer before there is no value surplus. What’s the value of that pick? 10 million? 15 million?
Keith Law: The pick is sunk. The question is whether Murray would be worth some enormous additional sum of money. I think the risk of no return there is high enough that he’s not.

Dave: Any soon to be released board games you’re looking forward to?
Keith Law: I already have the new Villainous expansion (which is also a standalone game) and liked it quite a bit. I have Wingspan too but haven’t cracked it yet. Same for Comanauts.

SeanE: Does KeBryan Hayes has what it takes to potentially make the switch to SS? He is clearly a plus plus defender at 3b and I know that does not always translate but wouldn’t his value be off the charts if he could hand the position?
Keith Law: No.

Henry: Keith, no question but just want to thank you for the outstanding write-ups on prospects and farm systems over the past few weeks. I could see the care and diligence you invested in it which was a product of great interviews and research. Well done!
Keith Law: Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed them. I was happy with the outcome overall.

No one: Is it true you’re getting a divorce because you were unfaithful?
Keith Law: Well that’s a new one. No, it’s not true.
Keith Law: People are so weird.

Mark: Do you think the slow free agency is bad for the game? If so, do you have any ideas to fix it?
Keith Law: I think it’s terrible for the game, but I don’t think there is a quick or simple fix for it. I believe ultimately the league will need to guarantee some percentage of revenue goes to the players, like in the NBA.

Brad: The Rockies haven’t had a good catcher in years. Is it due to poor drafting, poor player development or something else?
Keith Law: A little bad luck, too. Murphy couldn’t stay healthy.

Joseph: Afternoon, what’s best case scenario for Dodger OF issues? Verdugo showcase for a trade?
Keith Law: Other than signing Harper? Trading one of the catchers for OF help. Verdugo’s trade value is very low right now.

john: detroit tigers question, is Funkhouser a sleeper prospect? overshadowed by Manning, Faedo, Mize
Keith Law: Has yet to have a full, healthy, effective season.

Quez: How did the Mets do this offseason? Will McNeil get regular ABs in the OF? Thoughts on Alonso?
Keith Law: Mixed bag this offseason. Did poorly in trades, well in free agency overall (other than Familia). Would like to see either Alonso or Smith get everyday AB at 1b – both are ready, and blocking either one with veterans is counterproductive.

Mark: There seems to be a lot of criticism of owners/front offices not wanting to spend, but do players get any blame for free agency too? It seems like Machado and Harper “not wanting to sign first” could be holding up many other dominos from falling.
Keith Law: I don’t believe that’s true.

Alex: What was your favorite part of living in Pittsburgh when you attended CMU, and which area did you live in?
Keith Law: Shadyside. My favorite part was leaving each May because the gray winters killed me. I had no idea that was a thing at the time, but now I know (and have a light box right here next to me).

Grant: When you talk about how front offices hire people that know coding, what do you mean? Python?
Keith Law: That’s a nice place to start but teams are hiring people with advanced degrees in computer science & related fields.

John: If you had to guess, where will the Rays and A’s be in their stadium searches a year from now?
Keith Law: Exactly where they are now.
Keith Law: Sorry, had to go get the Samoas.

War biscuit : What have you heard on Will Holland and are you gonna go to auburn again to scout him?
Keith Law: doubt I’ll go to Auburn – more likely I’ll see him on the road against a potential first rounder.

Nick: Feel like the market is ripe For a team to get real creative to try and land Machado or Harper. Something like 9 years 300 million (110m over first 3 years) and player opt outs every season after year 3). The player could pocket 9 figures and still hit free agency in their 20’s, or essentially go year by after that for $32m a year and wait til they come off an MVP type year and then hit free agency again. Don’t think a contender would complain of 3-6 years of their prime if they walked at any point.
Keith Law: Agreed.

Quinn : Vlad Jr.’s wRC+ was 70 points greater then Tatis’ in AA last year. So, when you put Tatis above Vlad Jr. in your top prospects ranking is it because the difference in defensive ability really is that great or because you expect to improve comparatively more then Vlad Jr.?
Keith Law: wRC+ is utterly useless for prospect evaluation. So that’s your first problem. The differences are position, defensive value, baserunning, physical projection, and probability of improvement.

AGirlHasNoName: Am I wrong that a team made up of the remaining free agents could win 90 games?More even? Certainly more than the Marlins, right?
Keith Law: I can’t be the only one who thinks if the free agents wanted to they could put together a baseball team and dominate the troops.

LD: A few weeks ago, you tweeted that you were giving your daughter guitar lessons. How are you going about it? Is there a set time weekly? Nylon vs. steel string guitar? Hoping to start doing the same with my kids soon… Many thanks for all your writing and thinking.
Keith Law: Steel strings. I hate the sound of nylon, and it’s not going to sound like what she wants it to sound like (for pop songs). I haven’t pushed her at all – when she wants to practice, we practice.

Chris: Hi Keith, I was surprised Moises Gomez, wasn’t mentioned in the Rays write-up. Are there defensive or approach concerns that limit his upside?
Keith Law: Massive approach concerns.

SeanE: Adam Frazier still a utility guy in your mind or can he hit enough at 2b to cover for the below average defense. Or should they just give the job to Kramer and see what he can do?
Keith Law: Utility guy.

Alex Anthopoulos: What’s the one big move I can make, either now or in July, that would push the Braves from the 85-90 win range to actual world series contenders?
Keith Law: Signing Harper, certainly. I don’t see Liberty doing that.
Keith Law: Also, aren’t you Cobb County taxpayers glad you built the team that stadium to line Liberty’s coffers? Much better than funding schools or improving your roads or employing more first responders.

Tom: Why wasn’t Daulton Varsho on your list of D-backs prospects? What do you think his ceiling is?
Keith Law: He was on there.

Guest: I know you dont like to speculate – but do you think there has been collusion among owners or just a bad CBA?
Keith Law: I could never prove collusion, but teams all deciding to hold the line on spending at once is an awfully large coincidence.

JP: Would it be a good idea to let Tanner Houck break into MLB in the bullpen? I’m oddly optimistic of the young gun bullpen with Mata, Feltman, Lakins.
Keith Law: Yes. I still think it’s the most likely outcome for him but he did show more than I expected as a starter in the last 2/3 of 2018.

Zach: Amazon pulls out of NYC. Oh no, now who can we give billions in tax breaks to?
Keith Law: Right? don’t let the door hit you on your way out through the Holland Tunnel at 15 mph.

Dan: How big of a concern is Victor Robles’ exit velo? He’s in Tony Kemp territory in both of his MLB stints.
Keith Law: Tiny sample size.

Gabriel: Considering that I don’t think draft pick trading will happen anytime soon, do you think draft pick swaps would be an easier sell? They could limit it to the same round and get rid of the “small market teams will just sell their picks to the large market team” debate
Keith Law: The reason I don’t believe it’ll happen is that neither side has any real incentive to push for it. CBA changes involve a gain for one side or the other, and each side pushes ideas to the center of the table that will benefit them. Nobody clearly benefits from trading of draft picks, not enough for either side to push for it.

Tom: What are your critiques of Spider-verse beyond it being silly and derivative? I usually agree with your movie reviews, but I thought that movie was very well done
Keith Law: The whole film relied way too much on violence to solve every problem. Fine in a big superhero movie, not fine in an animated movie aimed at kids.

Nacho: Curious about Nolan Watson, 1st rounder few years back for Royals. Do you see any future for him, as either reliever or sp? Thanks!
Keith Law: Non-prospect.
Keith Law: Saw him last year, FYI.

Matt: Considering their relatively young age and the fact that they should be in their primes for several more years do you think a team should try to sign Machado or Harper even if they don’t plan on competing until say 2020 or 2021?
Keith Law: Yes, I think that’s reasonable, especially for a team looking to compete in 2020. And then maybe you sell a bunch more tickets in 2019, or pick up more stadium revenue from ads and suites and sponsorships, so you can go buy another big piece in a year.

Rob: Out of curiosity, non Tatis division, who is your *favorite* Padres prospect? The one you hope most hits his potential because you want to watch that career?
Keith Law: I love watching Tirso Ornelas hit. It’s just a great, great swing.

Tony B: Wait photographic memory isn’t real?
Keith Law: No. People who claim to have eidetic memories may have very good memories, but will still make mistakes on details and even fabricate such details when asked to recall images or scenes.

Chris P: Anyone show up to camp in the “best shape of their life” yet?
Keith Law: I just got back from the gym! then I ate three samoas.

Reader: How do we as fans reconcile different prospect lists having different pitches for the same pitcher, especially when it comes to breaking balls?
Keith Law: I don’t think it matters that much when it’s CB vs SL. They function the same way, and often one of us will be going off what the pitcher calls it and another writer will go off what it looks like from the hitter’s perspective. It would matter if we were talking about confusing a changeup for one of those pitches, because they serve different purposes. Similarly I don’t really care if we call a pitch a cutter or slider – I care how it works.

Sam: I muted Trump on twitter and my quality of life has improved drastically. I would recommend this to anyone, however by muting him is that the equivalent of burying my head in the sand? I don’t want to be ignorant of his lies and vitriol, but at the same time I like it when my blood doesn’t boil
Keith Law: If you want to know what he said, there are plenty of places to read about it. I find his tweets infuriating, but they don’t set policy, and he could drop the n-word and his adherents wouldn’t blink, so what’s the point in listening?

Grant: Keith, have you read The Woman in The Window, or read the recent articles about the author, Dan Mallory (A.J. Finn)? If you have, I’m curious what your thoughts are. Thanks.
Keith Law: I haven’t and don’t plan to, especially not after the story this morning that accused him of plagiarizing large portions of the novel.

Chris: With Michael King on the Yankees being shut down for at least 3 weeks with an elbow injury after ‘feeling pain’, this significantly hurts his chances of being an option in 2019 for the Yankees, doesn’t it? Seems ominous
Keith Law: Just a bullpen piece anyway. Not something to worry about.

Keith: Are the differences in Madrigal’s rankings across multiple lists simply a difference of opinion on his future power, or are there other skills/issues in question as well?
Keith Law: I don’t know. I can only tell you why he didn’t make my list.

Eric: Hi Keith. I just want to remind people to Vaccinate Your Kids and stop giving attention to those dolts who say otherwise.
Keith Law: Yep. And call your legislators to demand they eliminate all non-medical exemptions for children who wish to attend school.

Noah: Jasson Dominguez apparently is going to sign with the Yankees for their whole bonus pool. Any thoughts on him/what have you heard?
Keith Law: Ask me in July if and when he signs.
Keith Law: I don’t even bother tracking those guys now. Plus Kevin Maitan was supposed to be the best July 2nd guy since Sano and he’s barely a prospect 2.5 years later.

Andy: How much impact did Kolby Allard’s 8 bad innings for Atlanta have on his stock? He was terrific in AAA in his age 20 season but his stock has seemingly plummeted (as has his velo, I understand).
Keith Law: The stuff matters, the 8 innings don’t. Teams are smarter than that now.

Alex: Will baseball (and/or the other major sports leagues) ever realize that incentivizing teams to lose in order to get the best amateur talent via the draft is a really bad way to get fans excited about your product? Why would I shell out ticket money to see my local team try to lose 120 times?
Keith Law: I do think the next CBA will alter the top of the draft somehow. Maybe a lottery for the top ten picks. Maybe a modified free agent pool for the same top ten picks. Maybe reverse order of finish for non-playoff teams – so the team with the best record that misses the playoffs picks first.

Mark: When will you have 2019 draft coverage up?
Keith Law: Hoping to do a preseason top 30 by next Friday.

Ethan: Not a question, but, enjoyed your review of High Flying Bird. I enjoyed it a bit more than you but generally agree with your takeaway that it’s worth a watch more for the ideas and arguments it introduces than for the way it presents them.
Keith Law: I’ve recommended it to a lot of people in the industry for that reason. A good film, not a great one, but hits a lot of key issues for us as baseball fans.

Dan: I know you’ve professed to care not a whit for the other major American sports, but have you tried to get into world football/soccer at all?
Keith Law: I’ll root for Italy in the World Cup but that’s about it. Forza Azzurri!

guren: Would Curt Schilling get your Hall of Fame vote on a binary ballot?
Keith Law: No.

Dr. Bob: Negotiations are a two-way street. Is there a chance that the top FAs are getting several terrific offers and the players are just turning them down?
Keith Law: I feel like we’d have heard about one of them if that had happened.

Todd: Yankees Domingo Avevedo have any future in the bigs? Hes already 24 and hasnt been promoted up
Keith Law: Reliever. Might be a good one.

Andrew: As a microbiologist, I can’t thank you enough for all that you do in promoting vaccine safety and squashing trolls. It’s always great when somebody with as large of a following as you do stands up for what is right (and scientifically proven). It’s incredibly frustrating when the deniers seem to put more stock in the claims who have no scientific background (reminds me of a certain group reveling in electing a president with no experience or qualifications whatsoever).
Keith Law: You’re welcome. I feel like my platform, modest as it is, is a responsibility, and using it to remind people that science is real seems like a good use of it.

Tim: Does Boras take a credibility hit over the Murray situation? He had to rep to the A’s Murray was fully committed to playing baseball for them to have picked him where they did and agree he could still play football. Is his word any less valuable with teams goin forward?
Keith Law: Doubt it. Not sure why you’d pin this on Boras when the kid changed his mind after having an out-of-nowhere fall season on the gridiron.

Todd: You still believe or think Luis Medina can garner command?
Keith Law: I think it’s possible. Delivery and athleticism are there. But it’s a long way to average.

JP: Breakout player column coming this month or March?
Keith Law: That column is always in late March.

john: curious, are you an actual fan of any team, or just an observer?
Keith Law: Haven’t been a fan of any team since I left the Blue Jays. Can’t be in this job.

The Darkness: Can a healthy Kyle Lewis jump back into the top 100?
Keith Law: Unlikely, but not impossible. Lot of missed development time there.

US Grant: Who do you like in the Democratic primary at this early stage?
Keith Law: I don’t. I really just can’t at this point – too much posturing, too little discussion of policy. And way too much discussion of bullshit like likeability.

Steve: Why is Roma going to win best picture? This is the exact reason why no one watches the Oscars anymore
Keith Law: Because it was the best picture? If *that* is your complaint about the Oscars, we are not going to line up very well.

Jerry: RE: Musicians who turned out to be jerks (and worse). I’m a child of the 70s and 80s. I destroyed my Nugent and KISS CDs when I found out what kind of disgusting POS’s Nugent and Gene Simmons were.
Keith Law: Nugent is one I never understood because his music always sucked. So people overlooked him marrying an underage girl so he could legally sleep with her, which is gross no matter what music he makes, but I particularly can’t understand people stanning for him when the music is crap.

Colin: Seriously – how upset/jealous are you that Gritty doesn’t belong to MLB
Keith Law: He’s great. Very jealous.

Pat D: Regarding Trump’s tweet that referenced The Trail of Tears, do you think he actually knows what it was, our just that his hero Jackson caused it?
Keith Law: 100% that he knows what it is.

Brett: Hi Keith. With every news organization/channel slanted either left or right (how much of slant varies by network), do you think there is a strong appetite in this country for a truly unbiased news channel that is 100% committed to factual news only. Take 100% of opinions out of things and only sticks to facts. I bet, if done right, with out current political climate, it would be the most watched news channel within one year.
Keith Law: Well, I don’t agree that “every news organization” is slanted, and I definitely don’t believe that purely unbiased facts-only news would sell.

Mac: I read Ashe Russell is going to try and make a comeback. Great if he can but unfortunately have to think the odds are pretty low.
Keith Law: Almost nobody comes back from the yips and his case was severe.

Jimbo: Chances are nobody makes a Juan Soto type rise, but who is your pick to shoot up the ranks this year?
Keith Law: People ask this sort of question regularly but I answered it – every team has at least one prospect I’ve tabbed as a ‘sleeper’ to make a big jump in 2019.

Bobba: Do you think Harper and Machado are reluctant to commit to Philly because each would prefer to play somewhere else if the money is even somewhat similar? Given ownership’s ludicrous statement at the beginning of the process about going “stupid,” it sure seems like the agents could get some pretty good numbers out of Klentak and the Phillies by now. I just don’t think it’s either player’s first choice destination…
Keith Law: Don’t believe that for a second either. Good city, fans will show up when the team wins, they’re competitive now. What’s not to like?

Rueben: Was Jacob Degrom ever a top 100 prospect back when he was a prospect?
Keith Law: No. Made my Mets top 10 one year (for which I got grief from Mets fans for having him over … Hansel Robles, maybe?) but that was it.

Chris: Speaking of the psychotic anti-vaxxers, did you hear up here in Maine they slipped false vaxx side effect flyers w federal and state CDC emblems on them into kids products at Wal Mart? Atrocious.
Keith Law: I did. I’d like to see the people involved prosecuted … that sounds like terrorism to me.

Jeries: Who do you like more at this point: Reynaldo Lopez or Lucas Giolito?
Keith Law: Giolito.

Jim: Do you read true crime books? If so, any recommendations?
Keith Law: I don’t, sorry.

Jeff: Do you have any confidence that Domingo German can still be an effective starter for the Yankees? He has shown spurts of dominance, but obviously has been very inconsistent.
Keith Law: No, never thought he was a starter.

Rueben: No one watches the Oscars or Steve doesn’t watch the oscars?
Keith Law: Lot of that. “Nobody does X” usually means “I don’t do X.”

Rob K: It seems like the problem with the past two off seasons is that profitability is no longer correlated to winning, at least in the short term. Maybe it never was but owners cared less about profit. I don’t know. Do you see any realistic rule changes to incentivize winning? I for one would love to see publicly traded companies disallowed from owning a majority stake in a team.
Keith Law: That is largely true due to leaguewide revenues from MLBAM, and revenue sharing, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily true in the long term – there was a large windfall in there from the sale to Disney.

Desperate Os Fan: When did you stop beating your wife? (Rehtorical. This phrase popped in my head when they guy asked you about being unfaithful. Worth a Google if you have no idea what I’m talking about)
Keith Law: That came to my mind too. Which always reminds me of the awful ‘joke’ a reporter told about Wes Gardner in the ’80s when he was accused of beating his wife – you could google it, but it is offensive – and how no one at the time seemed to realize why the joke wasn’t funny.

DH: Re: social media fix. I agree that we want dissenters in authoritarian countries to have a voice. Problem is, authoritarians have figured out the game and flood the zone with bs so the truth is drowned out. These platforms have a responsibility.
Keith Law: Hang on, Jack will be right with you after he finishes polishing Candace Owens’ shoes.

AZ: Who do you think should win Best Actress among those nominated? My pick would be Gaga
Keith Law: In order of the five nominated, I would go Colman, Gaga, Aparicio, (gap), McCarthy, Close. I thought Rosamund Pike deserved a nomination for A Private War.

Ken Lay: Did you ever like Pantera? I loved them in high school…..that hasn’t aged well. And in hindsight, there were plenty of signs in the 90s that I overlooked as well.
Keith Law: Never a fan … their influence exceeded the appeal of their music.

Ryan: I’m a big fan of Alek Thomas, but your report is the first I have read that he may have 25 or more home run power, which is fantastic. He sounds like a potential star in the making. Do you expect to see him on the top 100 next year? Thank you!
Keith Law: I do, assuming he does what I think he’ll do in full-season ball.

HugoZ: The stadium is costing Cobb County taxpayers a net of around 5 million in a budget of 405 million. You really think it’s the biggest part of their budget problems?
Keith Law: Did I say it was the biggest part of their budget problems? I don’t think I did. I do think $5 million pays a lot of ‘loser teachers,’ though.

Ken : ever a fan of the band Cinderella?
Keith Law: Yeah, guilty. One of my favorites during the hair-metal halcyon days.

AGirlHasNoName: St Louis really is boring, right?
Keith Law: That whole meme has cracked me up because it is probably my least favorite city to visit among the 26 MLB metro areas. Not a great food scene, not a lot to do, and on a personal level not many people I know in the area.

Andrew: Are you an advocate of moving the pitching mound back?
Keith Law: Aw hell no.

Hank: Re: Nugent: He didn’t marry her, he became her legal guardian! Even grosser.
Keith Law: Oh god that’s right. And her parents signed off on it! I’m sure that was all legal and cool.

JP: Rather have Devers or Andujar for the next 5 years?
Keith Law: Devers.

Ryan: Just from reading your report on Chisholm, you seem really high on the hit tool. Are you at all concerned about the strikeout rate? Thank you!
Keith Law: I am not.

Marques: I’m half black, your candor on race motivating our current political positions gives me hope that some white people can hear the blaring dog horn. Thank you. Do you think the others really can’t hear it or are that many people cool with it?
Keith Law: I think many people who look like me and grew up like me are fine just ignoring the dog whistles and fog horns of modern racism because it doesn’t touch their daily lives. I’m hopeful enough people hear them to snuff out this rising tide of white nationalism before it becomes entrenched in Congress like it has in many European legislatures.

Bobba: Nick Pivetta improved his control to the point he shaved a full point off his walk rate, but he still gives of a lot of hard hit balls. Does he take another step forward this season?
Keith Law: Not without a better pitch for LHB.

Brett : O/U Games played in the bigs this year for Byron Buxton: 130
Keith Law: I’ll take the over.

Garrett: What is your max spend on restaurant dining? French Laundry levels?
Keith Law: That’s like $200something a person, right? I’ve done that once in my life. I have bought dinner for friends where I paid $200 for the two of us.

JP: T/F: Troy Tulowitski
Keith Law: F.
Keith Law: Although that would make him Froy Fulowifzki, I guess.

Gabe: Wouldn’t pick trading or swapping be a better marketing tool than bringing in Kyler Murray? I mean hell I’d be excited to watch you go on TV to talk about how you saw say both Dombrowski and Cashman at a game for the perceived #1 pick. Now that would be must watch TV
Keith Law: Yes, and it would make the draft better to watch, too. Don’t we all remember David Stern saying “there has been a trade…” for the Chris Webber/Penny Hardaway deal on draft night? (Bet you didn’t think I’d pull that reference out.)

Eric: Hey (white) people, stop saying “I don’t see color.” It’s a stupid trope that’s insincere and untrue. It is 100 percent OK to admit you do see color. It is not OK to dismiss what those of color are saying affects them, though.
Keith Law: It’s also impossible to not see color.

JP: Rank ‘em: Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Americans
Keith Law: The only show on that list I’ve watched for even two seasons is The Wire.

Fan boy : Thoughts on the potential 3 batter minimum rule?
Keith Law: I was good with two. I’d also like to see managers required to designate five relievers as ‘active’ for each game, and only able to use other pitchers if the game goes extra innings (or perhaps if the starter is injured early?).

Tim A: Most likely bust from 2018 MLB draft??
Keith Law: Too soon for that. I hate that term, BTW. You’d have to be bad for a long time before I hang that word on you.

Jake: What’s the logic behind no vaccination? I know they don’t cause autism, but even if you believe that was a possible risk, is autism worse than polio, brain damage, death, etc.?
Keith Law: That’s their belief – or that vaccines cause other ailments. It’s all bullshit, fomented by people who are seriously delusional or who want to sell you panaceas.

Pat: I always Cinderella after Night Songs & Tesla as more “blues” type bands than hair metal.
Keith Law: That’s why I liked their style and Whitesnake’s more than the pop-oriented acts like Poison or Winger. All horribly dated now, and I assume most of them have died from particulate matter clogging their alveoli, but at the time that was what we had.
Keith Law: OK, that’s all for this week. Thank you all, as always, for reading, for your questions, and for all of the kind words about my work on the prospect rankings. I may have to move the chat day next week if I do travel to see some draft players, so look for an announcement on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram. Happy Valentine’s Day and have a great holiday weekend.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: klawchat

→ February 14, 2019
→ By keith

What Will People Say.

What Will People Say, the second feature film written and directed by Iram Haq, was Norway’s submission for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and is heavily based on events from Haq’s own adolescence. She’s Norwegian, of Pakistani descent, and when she was a young teenager, her father kidnapped her and returned her to Pakistan to live for a year and a half because her parents feared that she was becoming too westernized. The grim and often brutal script follows its protagonist, here aged 16, through the same sequence of events, exploring the ways both Islam and her south Asian culture are wielded to control and break young women, in a story that would be hard to accept if it weren’t true. The movie is streaming free for amazon prime subscribers.

Nisha, played by first-timer Maria Mozhdah, acts like a regular teenager, rebelling against restrictive parents, hanging out with friends, with a budding relationship with a white boy. When he sneaks into her room one night, her father discovers them and proceeds to beat the boy and hit Maria, which leads to the involvement of child protective services. Maria’s mother tricks her into coming home, after which her father (Adil Hussain) and brother kidnap her and fly her to Islamabad, where he leaves her with her aunt and grandmother so she can learn to be a Pakistani housewife and mother, and, they hope, to cure her of these wicked western ways she’s learned in Norway. While there, she and her cousin fall for each other, only to be caught and humiliated by the local police, after which her father comes to retrieve her and start a new cycle of abuse and restriction that leads to the arrangement of a marriage without her consent.

What Will People Say, taking a phrase that Haq says is used in south Asian cultures to control women, is almost unrelenting once the downward spiral begins with her father’s violent reaction to finding a boy in her room. (He accuses her of having had sex with the boy, which isn’t true, but he repeats it in front of the social worker and demands that she marry the boy to save their honor.) Nisha endures some physical abuse and far more psychological abuse, but still shows strength of spirit and an ability to adapt to her situation, at least building a real affection for some of her cousins once it’s clear that she won’t be able to escape back to Norway, and eventually finding some strength to fight back against her domineering, self-loathing auntie – which makes it all the harder to stomach when she’s caught, shamed (for nothing), brought back to Norway, kept in near-total isolation, and ends up lying to social workers that everything’s fine.

Mozhdah is outstanding as Nisha, put through a gauntlet of torments and particularly asked to show outright fear, the sort of fear that incorporates terror and the loss of hope, especially as Nisha realizes her family members are working against her – especially her father, with whom she had a close relationship and thus in whom she’d placed great trust. (Haq has said she reconciled with her father as he was dying of cancer; on his deathbed, he told her to make this film, “to show how evil people can get when they are scared.”) Hussain, who played the main character’s father in The Life of Pi, is often terrifying in his role as Nisha’s father, where he’s asked to show contempt for the child he’s supposed to love and whose best interests he believes he has at heart.

Hussain’s performance ends up the key to making What Will People Say work in the end, when Nisha does escape, ostensibly for good, and her father shows a small sign that he finally understands her perspective – that he and her mother don’t actually share a vision of Nisha’s future, and that his actions now lead to a path where she would end up losing most of her freedom. It’s a tiny glimmer of optimism in a story that has beaten Nisha down, literally and figuratively, for most of its 105 minutes, one that would be hard to accept were it not so heavily based in reality. Haq’s script indicts so many forces, from south Asian cultures to Islam itself to the Norwegian authorities who ignored the evidence right in front of them, that it feels like a story written out of anger. Haq has said she’s not angry any more. What Will People Say transfers that anger to us.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2018 movies, coming of age movies, movies, norwegian films

→ February 13, 2019
→ By keith

High Flying Bird.

Steven Soderbergh’s newest film, High Flying Birds debuted in select theaters as well as on Netflix on February 12th, which means everyone can watch it now just as it’s getting reviewed – and it’s good, flawed but good, and likely of interest to most of you here since you’re probably a sports fan of some sort if you’re reading this in the first place. It’s also notable because for at least the second time Soderbergh has filmed a feature entirely on iPhones, which is sort of a mixed bag for the viewing experience. The movie really stands on two pedestals: the righteous indignation of its plot, with the screenplay by Tarell Alvin McCraney (who wrote the play that became the film Moonlight) and a standout performance from the always-compelling Andre Holland.

Holland plays Ray, an agent who represents multiple NBA players, including recent #1 draft pick Erick Scott (Melvin Gregg). The NBA is in a lockout as the movie opens, right before what I presume is Labor Day, which means players aren’t getting paid, which means Ray isn’t getting paid, which means his agency is crying poverty (with Zachary Quinto playing his one-dimensional boss). So Ray, with the help of his former assistant Sam (Zazie Beets), concocts a scheme, on the fly, to try to force owners to improve their offer to the players’ union, involving Erick and his teammate, the arrogant star Jamero Umber, playing an ‘impromptu’ pickup game at a charity event run by Ray’s friend and mentor Spencer (Bill Duke).

With MLB potentially heading for a work stoppage, and players taking to social media every day to talk about the deteriorating situation – revenues are rising, but player compensation isn’t, and obviously the best free agents are still unsigned – High Flying Bird feels incredibly timely even though it’s about another sport and incorporates a racial theme not as present in MLB. Slavery is mentioned multiple times – and its mere mention is worked into a successful running gag – while it’s no accident that the owners who appear on screen are all white, while every player, agent, or other representative is African-American. The script carefully avoids any discussion of dollars, focusing instead, as it should, on the distribution of the spoils; once you start bringing dollar amounts into any discussion of the salaries of professional athletes, you provoke the emotional bias that makes people say “$10 million to play a game?” and then I have to reach for the rum again.

There are many facets of Soderbergh’s direction and McCraney’s script that don’t work. Foremost among them is Soderbergh’s inclusion of snippets from interviews he conducted with three current NBA players – Karl-Anthony Towns, Donovan Mitchell, and Reggie Jackson, which means I was today days old when I learned there was an NBA player named Reggie Jackson – discussing life in the NBA, especially as a rookie. At the beginning, the answers help provide some context for what’s about to happen, but Soderbergh interrupts the film twice with more snippets in the final 20 minutes, which wrecks the tension and the flow of the narrative as he’s trying to wrap up both the global storyline and the set of storylines for Erick, Sam, and Ray. Many characters who play important roles in the plot are utterly one-dimensional, including Kyle Maclachlan’s bespectacled NBA owner (complete with trophy wife who speaks to her dog in nauseating baby talk). Sonja Sohn is well-cast as the NBA Players Association’s main rep, but the side story of her trying to start a family with her wife/partner doesn’t fit anywhere in the rest of the story.

And then there’s the editing and cinematography, which ultimately knock this film down from great to good for me. The picture quality is excellent, and most of the time you’d never think anything was filmed on something other than high-end equipment, but Soderbergh chooses some very strange angles, often filming people from an angle a little too high or low and distorting the viewer’s perspective. (Insert film angle optimization joke here.) There are also some very abrupt edits where scenes seem to change before a character has finished a sentence, and while Ray and Spencer in particular work some long pauses into monologues, Soderbergh doesn’t let any moments at the ends of those soliloquies breathe.

Holland is always great – he had side roles in Moonlight and 42 – but this is the most substantial part I’ve seen him tackle, and he’s not just good but credible from the opening scene (which has Ray and Erick engage in some very clever banter, a pace I wish the film had tried to keep up in later scenes). Ray gets preachy with Erick a few times, which does give an ironic aspect to the sermon Jamero’s mother drops him, but Holland’s charisma and particularly his tight, highly modulated delivery makes him compelling where he might have been exhausting. Beets and Gregg are also solid in supporting roles, although I didn’t find the chemistry between them all that evident even though the two characters do get together. Duke is just a delight even though his character plays the same short melody over and over through the film.

High Flying Bird will leave you with zero doubt as to its take on the late-stage capitalism of professional sports: The athletes are still treated like chattel, by mostly white owners, and many fans don’t care or side with the owners because they think the players’ high salaries should be enough, rather than considering whether the players are getting their fair share of revenues, or, as the script points out, how many hands reach into a player’s paycheck before it reaches him. Meanwhile, MacLachlan and his wife are planning to jet to Australia for a long weekend on their private plane, and he manages to patronize the hell out of Sonja Sohn’s character (in a subtly homophobic way) and isn’t much better to Ray. There are clear good guys and bad guys here, and unlike most coverage of labor issues in American sports, McCraney’s take is at least directionally correct. It’s a film worth seeing and discussing, and if the book that Scott carries around all film in a sealed envelope, revealed at the very end, gets a little bump in sales as a result, so much the better.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2019 movies, movies

→ February 12, 2019
→ By keith

The Finkler Question.

I have no idea why Howard Jacobson’s The Finkler Question won the Man Booker Prize; it’s not just unworthy of the honor, but it’s an aggressively bad novel, hard to read (despite some strong turns of phrase), full of unlikeable characters, and populated with bad stereotypes of Jewish people and, worse, Jewishness as a whole. It is a blurry facsimile of a Philip Roth novel; it is to Portnoy’s Complaint what the new Greta Van Fleet album is to Led Zeppelin IV.

The novel revolves around three men – Julian Treslove, Sam Finkler, and Libor Sevcik – who socialize from time to time in London. Finkler and Libor are both Jews, and both somewhat recently widowed. Treslove and Finkler were schoolmates, and Sevcik was their teacher at one point. Treslove is a Gentile, and not a widower but unable to maintain a relationship, with two sons by women who’d already left him before they found out they were pregnant. And for some reason, Treslove becomes obsessed with Jewishness – not Judaism the religion, but the Jewish culture, identity, and experience. He does so just as Finkler becomes involved with a group he renames the ASHamed Jews, anti-Zionists who express their disdain for Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and seems to be renouncing some of his Jewish heritage.

Treslove begins referring to all Jews as Finklers, which … seems problematic. It’s unclear if Jacobson meant this synecdoche as some sort of clever gimmick, but it comes off as a kind of bad stereotype, as if Finkler himself is representative of all modern Jews. Jacobson himself is Jewish and has spoken out against anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, especially that within Jermey Corbyn’s Labour Party, so it seems wrong to ascribe a malicious motive to Jacobson here, but the device does not work in the least – it is both grating and problematic.

And I’ve discovered that I’m not the only one who thinks this – in looking for a Guardian review of the novel from when it came out in 2010, I found this editorial that expresses my feelings on how the book uses Jewish identity as a sort of running punch line to no purpose. It feels dehumanizing on the page, which makes the book a worse read both for its inherent unpleasantness and because the characters become so much less interesting.

The story itself is also just not compelling at all, with Rothian obsessions with sex and genitalia, including a bizarre passage about an older circumcised Jew trying to create a new, faux foreskin for himself. (Don’t ask. Really, just don’t ask.) Finkler was serially unfaithful to his wife, who cheated on Finkler with Treslove. Treslove himself probably can’t maintain a relationship because he can hardly distinguish between sex and intimacy. He does meet his match, which is bizarrely foreordained by a fortuneteller at the start of the novel in a plot element that just drops off the page once the prophecy is partly fulfilled, and manages to screw that up too, in large part because he becomes obsessed with her Jewishness and can’t see her as anything but Jewishness incarnate. Treslove and Finkler are both insufferable in different ways, with Finkler a bit worse for me because I have met a couple of people of whom he reminded me, but must we quibble over degrees or flavors of insufferability? You can’t anchor a novel with two nitwits like them and then expect the reader to connect with what’s happening on the page.

Yet it won the Man Booker Prize in what looks like it might have been a weak year of candidates; I had only heard of one book on the shortlist, Emma Donoghue’s Room (the basis for the movie starring Brie Larson), and one other author, Peter Carey, who has won the Booker twice already. I don’t know what the judges saw in this but I think it’s just plain dreadful, even if you give it a few points for Jacobson’s intelligent yet stolid prose.

Next up: Reading an out-of-print Graham Greene short story collection, after which I’ll read Philip K. Dick’s Our Friends from Frolix 8.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: british literature, disappointments, man booker prize

→ February 11, 2019
→ By keith

Morels app.

Morels was the first game I reviewed for Paste, over four years ago, and crossed my radar because it was a brand-new, purely two-player game with some positive early press. It’s a great, quick-to-learn set-collection game that was only the second title I’d come across to use the now-popular rolling market mechanic, where you can take the first card or few cards in the display for free, while taking cards further from the start of the queue costs you something. There’s also a push-your-luck element to choosing which sets to collect and which to discard for twigs, the game’s currency, as well as trying to deduce what your opponent might be collecting and deciding whether it’s worth using a turn to grab something they need. It’s been on every iteration of my all-time board game rankings and my top two-player games rankings since I first reviewed it.

Late last year, an app version of Morels appeared for iOS and Android devices, using the original artwork and featuring strong AI opponents – at least, I think they’re pretty strong, since I can’t beat the hard level more than about half the time – for a very strong app experience. If you’ve been looking for a new two-player game and want to try Morels before buying the physical game, or just want a new game app that plays well as a solo vs AI experience, I strongly recommend this.

Morels is a game of mushroom collection, which means a few of my closest friends are already predisposed to hate this game. The deck includes cards of nine different mushroom types, each with a different point value and value in twigs. You can ‘cook’ any set of at least three mushrooms of one type to gain the points shown on those cards by turning in the mushroom cards with a skillet card; if you turn in four, you can boost the value by 3 with a butter card, and if you turn in five, you can boost the value by 5 with a cider card. Basket cards increase your hand limit. You can turn in two cards of any mushroom type to gain twigs, which you then use to grab cards from the market that are beyond the first two (free) spots. The market moves one space to the right on every turn, and if the rightmost card wasn’t taken, it falls into a pile just off the market that can hold up to four cards, which you can also take for free; if that pile reaches four and no one has taken the stack, they’re all discarded for the remainder of the game.

Morels app screenshot

There are two special card types in the deck. Destroying Angel cards are deadly, of course, and if you take one your hand limit is cut in half for several turns. Night cards show the same mushroom types as the regular (day) cards, with the exception of the most valuable cards, the morels, and Night cards are worth two cards of the displayed type – so you can turn in one Night card for twigs, or you can cook one Night card and one Day card of the same mushroom type for points. The catch is that Night cards show up face down, so you take one without knowing which mushroom type you’re getting (there’s one Night card for each non-morel mushroom). Game play continues until the deck is exhausted.

Decisions in the game are quick, but they’re not always simple; you’re working against the constraints of your hand limit, the finite supply of skillet cards, and the hard end to the game – you don’t get a last shot to cook once the deck is finished. I learned more strategy from playing against the AI than from playing against anyone in person, since the AI player nearly always does what it can to grab Night cards, even if it means using all of its twigs, and will generally try to stop me from collecting enough high-value mushrooms – particularly morels and chanterelles – to cook. The hard AI also seems to have good deck awareness, knowing what’s left and also managing end game well enough that I found I had to change how I played to keep up.

I’ve played the app dozens of times with just occasional glitches, and no complaints about game play or the AI. I wish it kept track of total wins/losses against each AI level, but that’s a minor quibble. The graphics are bright and clear, and you don’t really need to be able to read the mushroom titles to play it as a result. Everything you need to know to play the game well is on the main screen, and the challenge is more one of keeping track of things in your head (or I guess on paper, if you want) rather than one of the app making this information harder to find. At $4.99 for iOS or Android it’s an easy recommendation for me.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: apps, boardgames, highly recommended, two-player games

→ February 10, 2019
→ By keith

Eighth Grade.

Comedian Bo Burnham made his screenwriting debut with 2018’s Eighth Grade, a cute coming-of-age story with newbie Elsie Fisher in the lead role of Kayla. It will compete with itself between making you laugh and making you want to crawl out of your own skin, because I’m guessing just about everyone who sees this will relate to something that happens to Kayla as we follow her through the last few weeks of eighth grade and see her navigate social anxieties and prepare for high school. The film is free now on amazon prime.

Kayla is a shy, awkward teenager – watch how Fisher walks, as if she’s trying to make herself smaller – who posts ‘advice’ vlogs that, as we see, no one watches, but also worries that she’s giving advice she doesn’t even take herself. Nothing extraordinary happens to her for most of the film; she gets invited to a pool party, wins the dubious honor of being named quietest in her class, spends a lot of time on Instagram and Snapchat (as we’re told, nobody uses Facebook any more), has a crush, hears about sex, and eventually has a day where she shadows a perky, outgoing high school senior named Olivia (Emily Robinson, who has fantastic hair). We get a school-shooting drill, impossibly uncool teachers and school administrators – really, a principal tries to dab, and I’ve never been so embarrassed to be over the age of 20 – and, eventually, one bad thing happens that triggers the big scene you might have caught in the trailer where Kayla and her dad (Josh Hamilton) have an emotional conversation around a fire pit.

Eighth Grade is by far at its best when Kayla is on the screen and at the center of whatever’s happening. She gives a description of anxiety, without naming it as such, that’s about as good a depiction of the physical aspects of the disorder that I have heard anywhere in fiction. Fisher’s bright eyes and blond hair would seem to make her a standout, but she plays Kayla as so unsure and vulnerable that she ends up seeming younger than her classmates and that much more sympathetic. And Eighth Grade should be viewed through her lens from start to finish; even the worst thing that happens to her works better because she’s always at the focus of the narrative and the camera. There’s a joke around a banana that is such picture-perfect physical comedy that I can only assume Fisher actually hates the fruit in real life – or else she deserved a Best Actress nod for that scene alone.

Where Burnham lost me and cost himself some momentum is when he went for cheap laughs, like making the adults not just uncool but sort of assertively uncool, like the dabbing principal or the teacher in the sex education video who says “it’s gonna be lit!” To a teenager, parents and adults are just generally not cool, but Burnham goes twice as far as he needs to go so he can hammer that point home. A few of the gags hit, but more miss or just seem out of place because they take the focus away from Kayla’s journey – and her story is the heart of the film in every sense of the term.

Other than Fisher’s performance, the biggest reason Eighth Grade works, even with its inconsistencies, is that Burnham has managed to hit so many universal emotions and experiences with just a handful of anecdotes over the course of about 90 minutes. While there’s nothing here that specifically happened to me as a kid, the sensations and emotions were entirely familiar – none more so than that sense that you’re the one person in the room everyone is looking at, the one person everyone else has identified as the oddball. A few of the anecdotes are rooted in modernity; all the kids are constantly on their phones, talking to each other through DMs, snaps, and instagram comments. You can generalize almost everything in this film that Kayla experiences to match something you remember feeling as a kid. And I got to feel this film on two levels, since I’m also the father of a girl just a year younger than Kayla is, so eighth grade for us is just around the corner. (I’ve already forbidden her from using Snapchat though.) So while the script is inconsistent and has some gags that don’t land, the story is so authentic to the experience of growing up as a suburban teenager that the film eventually works and resonates without resorting to cheap manipulation or big twists.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2018 movies, coming of age movies, highly recommended, movies

→ February 9, 2019
→ By keith

There There.

Tommy Orange’s debut novel There There draws its title from multiple sources, including the great Radiohead song of that name and the oft-used but misunderstood Gertrude Stein quote about Oakland, which might give you some idea of how hazy and broad the novel is as a whole. With twelve central characters in a novel of a scant 290 pages – including a lot of white space – there are interesting ideas but, for readers who like to connect with characters in novels they read, not much there here.

Orange is Native American, a enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma (I was ignorant of this idea of enrollment before this) and the idea of being Native American in our current society, which simultaneously fetishizes aspects of indigenous cultures while putting substantial pressure on people of Native descent to assimilate. The twelve characters in There There are connected by a complex web of biological relationships and coincidental acquaintances, all of which leads them to a major pow-wow at whatever it is we’re calling the Oakland A’s stadium right now. Several of the characters plan to rob the powwow using 3D printed guns made by yet another character, which, of course, leads to a mass shooting event that closes out the book. (That’s a spoiler, but if you don’t see that coming by everything that comes before, we may need to talk about foreshadowing.)

The characters themselves don’t get enough page time to develop any depth or to distinguish themselves from each other – it’s not always this simple, but 14-15 pages per character doesn’t give the author much time to develop them – so I had a particularly hard time keeping their relationships straight. That’s exacerbated by what I assume was a major point of Orange’s – that the fractured nature of Native Americans living in a sort of parallel or shadow world next to ours can lead to fractured family relationships. Nobody in this novel has or grew up in a nuclear two-parent home where all members were biologically related, and many were raised by someone other than a parent. In that sense, the lack of definition around the characters works in the novel’s favor, because every individual seems just a little out of focus – and from the way many of them describe their upbringings, that may also represent how they feel.

There are other elements of Native culture present in the book that didn’t make sense to me in context, although I could simply have failed to understand them because I know so little about Native traditions. Several characters report pulling spiders’ legs out of their own legs – they’ll have a wound or cyst of some sort, and then will pull strands out of them that resemble spiders’ legs. It’s the only bit of magical realism in the novel – assuming that’s what it is – and it’s never explained, eventually just disappearing without explanation. If that’s a symbol, I missed it, and yet felt like there was something significant about the descriptions that I needed to grasp to fully understand the book.

And then there’s the mass shooting, which, unfortunately, is way too familiar in contemporary fiction, which is of course an artifact of how familiar mass shootings are in American life today. The way the shooting plays out makes it feel like a jumble of knots Orange used to tie off all of the loose threads he’d created over the course of the novel, and avoids the trap of having to give each of these characters individual endings. The failure to develop any of the characters also makes the ending – some are shot, at least one dies, some do heroic things – surprisingly inert for what should be an evocative portrayal of a gigantic trauma. You should feel something when a significant named character dies on the page; I was still trying to sort out who was who, leaving me disconnected from everything that happened to them.

I heard of There There from a site that tries to predict each year’s Pulitzer winner so that collectors can try to get first editions; this was currently their most likely title to win, although I don’t believe they had last year’s winner, Less, on their board at all. (They nailed the previous year’s winner, The Underground Railroad.) Perhaps they’re right – it has been positively reviewed, and stories about Native Americans in modern America would fit the Pulitzer’s guidelines favoring stories about the American experience. It just didn’t click with me in the least.

Next up: Already more than halfway through the Booker Prize-winning novel The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2018 books, american literature, contemporary literature, Native American literature

→ February 8, 2019
→ By keith

Of Fathers and Sons.

This year’s slate of nominees for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature might have had the biggest surprise of all in its omission of Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the rare documentary to cross over into popular success, earning over $22 million at the U.S. box office, putting it 12th all time in the category on BoxOfficeMojo. (The categorization there is itself debatable; three films in the top 11 are concert films, another is a Dinesh D’Souza propaganda piece, and two are Michael Moore propaganda pieces.)

One of the five films that did make the Oscar cut this year was the little-known Of Fathers and Sons, an Arabic-language film by the Syrian-Kurdish director Talal Derki, who was previously honored for his film Return to Homs. For Of Fathers and Sons, Derki spent over two years with a jihadist family in Syria, watching the Islamist father radicalize his sons and speak of the inevitability of a world war that leaves his particular brand of fundamentalist Sunni Islam triumphant across the world, in fulfillment of prophecy. It is harrowing and defeating, yet deeply personal, even intimate, as we watch two of the sons in particular react differently to their father’s exhortations.

Abu Osama is the father, apparently one of the founders of al-Qaida in Syria, and Derki spent those two years watching Abu Osama and his eight sons, most all of whom are named after jihadists, including his eldest, Osama Osama, and another son, Ayman Osama, named for current al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The documentary has no narration, other than Derki occasionally posing questions to Abu Osama, and the only narrative arc is a natural one – the father’s indoctrination of his sons into the rhetoric and mania of a holy war against the enemies of their very specific branch of Salafi jihadist Islam (which includes pretty much everybody else, although Americans, Jews, and Shi’ites all get their turn as targets of derision). This process is set against domestic scenes, including more ordinary interactions between father and sons, as well as scenes of the boys by themselves, mostly just being boys, a strange reminder that jihadists are made, not born, and that even the father, who comes across as inhuman almost every time he speaks to the camera or to other adults, has a human side when it comes to his family. Eventually, however, the time comes for Osama to head off to training camp to become an al-Qaida fighter, while Ayman balks at the brutality of the training, and Abu Osama suffers an injury that shifts the story without deterring him from raising an army of jihadist children.

The marvel of Of Fathers and Sons is its access, apparently unfettered where the males are concerned, but with virtually no women or girls appearing on camera – the only women of any age on screen are shown at a distance in public spaces, such as outside the local school. Abu’s niece is outside at one point, never shown, when we hear the boys yelling at her that she shouldn’t be outside without her burqa, and Abu then jokes about punishing her or worse. Then we find out she’s two.

And that’s where Of Fathers and Sons becomes very uncomfortable to watch, which cuts both ways. Derki has ceded his voice to maintain access (and, perhaps, stay alive?) among men who would gladly commit murder for the sake of their very narrow beliefs. Abu has a sniper’s hideout near his house, and at one point, he and Derki are in it, when Abu seems someone on a motorbike and shoots him, gloating that the man fell off but asking someone off-camera for another gun so he can kill the man, which he doesn’t appear to do. Does Derki have any moral responsibility to say something there? Could he, without compromising his life and those of whatever crew he had? Less strident but just as disturbing is the sequence where he shows Osama, who is about 12 but whose age Abu doesn’t even know, how to shoot a pistol; with all of the kids looking younger than their stated ages, probably due to their diets, seeing a child who isn’t old enough to shave holding a pistol and shooting with an adult’s confidence while talking about God’s will and, eventually, training to fight with al-Qaida is even more disturbing to watch than the on-screen slaughter of a sheep towards the end of the movie.

I know it might sound contrarian to say this, but I’m completely fine with this getting a nomination over Won’t You Be My Neighbor?. Of Fathers and Sons has something important to say, and Derki lets the subjects say it for him. His direction feels totally hands-off, which means there are some scenes in here that might be superfluous, but do serve to fill out the picture of Abu Osama and his sons as a family who still have some bonds in common with any other family, but who live in a war zone, in dangerous conditions, and preach hate as a regular way of life. It is a story without hope, at least not for these boys, but perhaps a warning to the rest of us if we want to prevent the next generation from growing up to be jihadists too.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2018 best documentary feature nominees, 2018 movies, documentaries, middle east, movies

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